UNIVERSITY  OF'  CALIFORNIA. 


FROM   THE    LIBRARY   OF 

DR.  JOSEPH   LECONTE 
GIFT  OF  MRS.  LECONTE. 

No. 


f. 


COAL  AND  COAL  OIL; 


TIIE  GEOLOGY  OF  THE  EARTH. 


BEING    A    POPULAR    DESCRIPTION    OF 


MINERALS  AND  MINERAL  COMBUSTIBLES. 


BY    ELI    BOW. 

PROFESSOR    OF    GEOLOj 


PHILADELPHIA: 

T.  B.  PETERSON  &  BROTHERS, 
306  C  H  E  S  T  N  U  T  S  T  R  E  E  T. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1865,  by 
ELI    BO  WEN, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  in  and  for  tt» 
Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
STEREOTYPED  BY  8.  A.  QEORQB. 


BREVIAEY   OF   THE   ARGUMENT, 

(For  a  Complete  Alphabetical  Index  of  Contents,  seepage  489.) 


THE  FIRST  DAY. — Description  of  the  first  day  by  Moses  ;  the 
magnitude  of  the  subject  considered  ;  impossibility  of  conceiving 
A  beginning  or  an  end  ;  vanity  of  attempts  to  explore  ante- 
mundane  phenomena,  but  our  duty  to  investigate  those  which 
immediately  concern  and  surround  us  ;  man  the  servant  of  God, 
to  whom^ie  has  confided  tne  custody  of  his  creatures  ;  the 
antiquity  of  the  earth  ;  the  meaning  of  the  word  Day — it  contem- 
plates circles  of  time,  or  lengthened  cosmogonal  eras  ;  origin  of 
calendar  time— impossibility  of  the  existence  of  solar  or  calen- 
dar days  during  the  earliest  stages  of  creation  ;  differences  of 
calendar  days  among  different  nations ;  the  word  day  merely 
symbolically  employed  by  Moses — is  frequently  used  to  express 
lengthened  periods  ;  harmony  among  the  original  promulgatora 
of  the  divine  word  ; — discord  and  misinterpretations  among 
modern  Christians  the  result  of  a  neglect  of  Nature's  laws  ;  the 
Bible  not  addressed  to  one  age,  but  to  the  people  of  all  time — 
its  truths  manifested  with  the  advance  of  our  knowledge  of 
Nature  ;  the  perversions  of  Infidelity,  and  the  negligence  of  the 
Church  ;  Religion  should  be  based  on  Nature  ;  God  the  creator 
of  Nature  and  of  Law  ;  the  Church  errs  externally,  not  in- 
ternally ;  the  spirit  right,  but  its  policy  wrong— pride  the  basis 
of  its  inefiiciency — cause  for  alarm  for  its  ultimate  safety  ;  want 
of  parallelism  or  conformable  order  in  stratification  proof  of 
the  antiquity  of  the  earth  ;  correspondence  of  the  Mosaic  days 
with  cosmogonal  eras  ;  proof  of  the  prophetic  intelligence  of 
Moses  ;  the  laws  of  paleontology — progressive  creation,  but  not 

(3) 

101103 


4  BREVIARY  OF  THE  ARGUMENT. 

of  development ;  simultaneous  creation  disproved ;  conciseness 
of  the  Mosaic  narrative  ;  the  antiquity  of  the  earth  established 
by  Astronomy  ;  distance  of  the  planets  from  the  sun  ;  the  im- 
mensity of  space,  and  of  the  universe  ;  inability  of  the  mind  to 
comprehend  distance,  time,  or  magnitude;  vision  and  mind 
alike  circumscribed ;  diffusion  of  light  through  space  ;  the 
Milky  Way  ;  vast  extent  of  time  required  for  the  transmission 
of  stellar  light ;  Telescopic  observations  of  Herschell ;  econom- 
ical value  of  astronomical  discoveries — calculations  of  eclipses, 
comets,  and  sidereal  phenomena — Halley's  comet ;  the  seasons, 
precession  of  the  equinoAes,  the  almanac  ;  value  of  astronomy 
to  marine  navigation ;  the  discovery  of  Neptune  by  Leverrier — 
wonders  of  mathematical  demonstration  ;  the  origin  of  worlds  ; 
the  Nebular  hypothesis  explained ;  resolution  of  nebula  into 
stellar  bodies  no  proof  of  weakness  in  the  theory ;  Nebulae 
abounding  as  independent  bodies  in  space  ;  worlds  off-shoots 
from  the  sun  ;  the  planets  all  move  in  one  direction  only  ;  their 
globular  form  ;  law  controls  all  their  movements  ;  speciality  of 
forms  ;  the  law  of  intermediate  distance  among  the  planets  ;  the 
law  of  progressive  density  ;  the  law  of  time  in  their  Evolutions 
around  the  sun ;  the  former  relation  of  the  sun  to  other  sys- 
tems ;  original  unity  of  worlds,  embodied  in  God  ;  his  volition 
occasioned  diffusion  ;  the  propensity  to  return  into  unity  defined 
as  gravitation;  Moses  describing  cosmogonal  phenomena  in 
tableaux  ;  worlds  within  worlds  ;  life  inherent  in  matter  ;  worlds 
the  mere  compounds  of  aggregate  atoms,  united  by  affinity ; 
Seers  of  ancient  Greece  ;  the  Mosaic  pictures  consistent  with 
cosmogonal  facts ;  the  Nebular  hypothesis  foreshadowed  in 
Revelation ;  light  inherent  in  Nebulae  ;  the  earth  in  embryo  ; 
the  interior  keat ;  conclusion,  and  quotation  from  Milton's 
"Paradise  Lost." 

THE  SECOND  DAY. — The  firmament,  how  produced  ;  the  aqueous 
origin  of  the  earth  ;  universality  of  water  in  earth,  air,  and 
animals  ;  origin  of  rocks  from  interior  calorific  sublimation  ; 
chemical  dissolution  of  water  ;  evaporation  of  hydrogen,  and  its 
expansion  into  the  dome-like  firmament ;  the  Mosaic  contrasted 
With  the  Grecian  Cosmogony  ;  the  concavity  of  the  globe  ;  the 
earth-animal  of  Kepler ;  original  definition  of  the  word  firma- 
ment ;  Moses  in  advance  of  all  succeeding  ages  ;  modern  ten- 
dency of  science  to  the  confirmation  of  his  Cosmogony  ;  the  birth 


BREVIARY  OF  THE   ARGUMENT.  5 

of  animated  Nature  ;  terrific  volcanic  eruptions :  crystalline  and 
Plutonic  rocks  the  solid  base  of  the  earth ;  emergence  of  volcanic 
reefs  and  islands ;  distribution  of  the  primitive  rocks  in  Asia, 
Europe,  Africa,  and  America  ;  mineral  characters  and  varieties 
of  the  volcanic  rocks  ;  concluding  remarks ;  extract  from  Mil- 
ton's "Paradise  Lost." 

THE  THIRD  DAY. — Appearance  of  dry  land ;  commencement 
of  vegetable  life  ;  the  Metamorphic  rocks,  their  character, 
position,  and  origin  ;  first  appearance  of  limestone  ;  the  Cam- 
brian, Silurian,  Devonian,  and  Carboniferous  systems  ;  classi- 
fication of  Geologists  ; — priority  of  animal  over  vegetable  life 
denied  ;  the  igneous  or  volcanic  rocks  referred  to  ;  the  Meta- 
morphic rocks  the  basis  of  the  Paleozoic  formation  ;  propensity 
to  introduce  new  words  in  geological  nomenclature  deprecated 
— a  case  in  point ;  the  Geological  Report  of  Pennsylvania ; 
rocks  of  the  Metamorphic  group  described ;  mineral  veins  ; 
copper  and  iron  of  Lake  Superior  ;  iron  of  Pilot  Knob,  Cornwall, 
and  Lake  Champlain ;  fossiliferous  nature  of  the  Metamorphic 
rocks  ;  the  Silurian  rocks,  fossils  and  distribution  of ;  Silurian 
sandstones  of  the  west ;  Niagara  Falls,  description  of,  age, 
retrogression,  discovery  of ;  the  St.  Clair  flats  ;  emergence  of 
the  bottom  of  Lakes  ;  formation  of  conglomerate  rocks  ;  the 
Devonian  rocks  described — old  Red  Sandstone — Hugh  Miller  ; 
distribution  of  old  Red  Sandstone  ;  America  properly  the  old 
world  ;  the  Andes,  Rocky  mountains,  and  volcanic  peaks  ;  coal 
basins  of  Texas,  of  the  Missouri,  the  Illinois,  Michigan,  the 
Alleghany,  Rhode  Island,  British  Provinces ;  formation  of 
conglomerate  and  sandstone  ;  .character  of  the  Devonian  coal 
Lakes  ;  limestone  generally  absent ;  depth  of  the  northwest 
lakes  ;  gulf  of  the  ancient  sea  in  the  south-west ;  the  drainage 
of  the  land  in  that  direction ;  vegetation  of  the  MetamOrphio 
era ;  the  Potsdam  Sandstone  ;  identity  of  origin  of  various 
combustibles  ;  cosmopolitan  distribution  of  coal ;  no  organs  of 
fructification  in  the  ancient  grasses — their  spontaneous  develop- 
ment ;  geological  features  of  the  coal  basin  of  Rhode  Island ; 
extraordinary  disturbance,  coal  graduating  into  plumbago, 
graphite ;  British  lustre ;  Metamorphic  coal ;  anthracite  of 
France  and  Scandinavia  ;  number  of  fossil  species  of  vegetation  ; 
botanical  systems  of  classification  described  ;  description  of  the 
fossils  of  the  coal  formation — Ferns— Lycopodiaceae — Lepido- 


g  BREVIARY  OP  THE  ARGUMENT. 

dendria— Sigillaria — Lyeopodites  — Ulodendron — Volkmania— 
Carpolites  —  Flabellaria— Noggerathia— Asterophyllites— Annu- 
laria— Stigmaria— Conifer®— coal  plants  in  general;  resinous 
character  of  the  vegetation — contemplation  of  Paleontology ; 
the  formation  of  coal— the  peat-bog  theory  ;  estuary  or  drift 
theory  ;  difficulties  suggested ;  fossil  trees  in  an  erect  posi- 
tion;  theory  of  various  Geologists— Hawkshaw,  Buckland, 
Lyell,  Rogers — objections  suggested  to  all;  fossils  in  coal?  an 
error  corrected ;  bark  of  fossil  trees  not  coal  —  chemical 
nature  of  anthracite;  composition  of  vegetation;  no  fruits, 
grains,  nuts,  or  esculents  in  the  ancient  earth ;  coniferous 
trees  furnished  the  bulk  of  the  coal;  description  of  existing 
coniferous  trees;  the  wild  pine — the  Corsican  pine  —  the 
Cluster  pine — the  Siberian  pine — the  Norway  pine — Ameri- 
can pines — rrfd,  pitch,  white  pines — the  spruce — the  silver 
fir — various  other  pines  and  firs — the  larch — the  cedar  of 
Lebanon — the  yew— the  cypress — the  juniper  —  the  tallow 
tree,  etc.,  transmission  of  the  ancient  seeds  of  vegetation- 
specific  vegetation  of  geological  eras — diversity  of  vegetation 
accounted  for — distilling  tar  and  turpentine,  process  described  ; 
deposition  of  the  coal  described ;  geographical  relations  of  the 
northern  lakes  ;  character  of  the  coal  forests ;  extraordinary 
development  of  vegetation ;  nature  of  the  ancient  climate ; 
large  content  of  carbonic  acid ;  fogs,  mists,  and  radiated  heat ; 
the  forests  and  earth  converted  into  vast  tar  pits — the  ground 
impregnated  with  liquid  resin — accumulation  of  vegetable  resin 
in  the  lakes — formation  of  seams  of  coal — overflow  of  the  lakes 
— rubbish  of  the  forests  borne  away— parallel  overflows  of  the 
Mississippi — deposition  of  sediment  over  the  coal — faults  in 
coal  veins  explained — invasion  of  the  sea — its  ancient  position 
to  the  coal  basins — deposits  of  asphalt,  chapapote,  bitumen, 
etc.,  described — pitch  lake  of  Trinidad — chapapote  of  Cuba — 
asphalt  of  New  Brunswick  —  petroleum — oil  springs  —  gas 
springs— a  river  on  fire— intimate  relation  between  coal  and 
pitch — identity  of  origin — chemical  transformations  of  vegeta- 
tion into  coal — mistaken  inferences  of  geologists — a  difficulty 
and  false  assumption  explained — professional  fallacy— the 
world  controlled  too  much  by  mere  ostensible  learning— nature 
of  Lignite  or  brown  coal;  amber,  its  origin;  injecting  railway 
cross-ties;  conversion  of  bituminous  into  anthracite  coal— a 


BREVIARY  OP  THE  ABGUMENT.  7 

mistake  corrected — theory  of  Rogers  and  Lyell ;  microscopio  in- 
vestigations— vegetable  structure  of  coal  denied — fire-damp 
explosions  in  mines — the  Davy  lamp — antiquity  of  the  earth 
illustrated — geographical  distribution  of  coal — concluding  re- 
marks—Milton's "Third  Day." 

THE  FOURTH  DAY. — The  description  of  Moses  ;  the  light  of  the 
sun,  moon,  and  stars  appears  for  the  first  time,  in  full  effulgence, 
the  sun  appointed  to  rule  over  the  day,  and  with  the  light  of  the 
planets,  to  be  for  signs  and  seasons,  days  and  years  ;  misappre- 
hension of  the  language  of  Moses  ;  confirmation  of  the  peculiar 
atmosphere  of  the  coal  era ;  the  earth  previously  enveloped  in 
mists  and  fogs  ;  effect  of  such  climate  on  vegetation  and  animals  ; 
elevation  of  mountain  chains  ;  the  Alleghanies  ;  diversification 
and  refrigeration  of  the  climate  of  the  earth  ;  the  Mosaic  cosmo- 
gony in  advance  of  the  Grecian  philosophers  ;  the  Ptolemaic  as- 
tronomy— the  earth  the  supposed  centre  of  the  planetary  sys- 
tem ;  discoveries  and  mathematical  demonstrations  of  Coperni- 
cus,; his  laws  described ;  false  views  of  Cosmogony  entertained 
by  the  Church ;  Tycho  Brahe ;  laws  of  Kepler  described ;  dis- 
covery of  the  Telescope  ;  Galileo,  and  his  discoveries  ;  expan- 
sion of  the  knowledge  of  the  universe  ;  Sir  Isaac  Newton  ; 
discovery  of  the  law  of  universal  gravitation  ;  description  of 
gravitation  ;  effect  of  this  discovery  ;  discoveries  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  the  wonders  of  the  air  and  ocean ;  the  Gulf 
Stream  of  the  Atlantic  and  its  effect  on  climate  ;  the  at- 
mosphere a  great  steam-engine ;  the  quantity  of  salt  held 
in*  solution  by  the  ocean;  currents  of  the  air  and  ocean, 
how  produced;  weight  of  the  atmosphere  and  the  power  it 
exerts  ;  the  description  of  Moses  proved  correct  by  the  on- 
ward advance  of  science,  and  the  increased  knowledge  of 
Nature  ;  position  of  the  Apostles  to  scientific  dogmas  ;  eloquent 
extracts  from  Paul,  the  Apostle  ;  difference  between  Spiritual 
and  temporal  contemplation  of  Nature  ;  position  of  the  Bible 
as  to  systems  of  Science  ;  the  Pleiades — accuracy  of  revelation  ; 
the  cosmogony  of  the  boolt  of  Job  ;  opinion  of  Baron  Humboldt ; 
extract  from  the  Psalms  ;  the  proof  that  Moses,  in  his  days,  con- 
templated lengthened  periods  ;  concluding  remarks  ;  Milton's 
Fourth  Day. 

THE  FIFTH  DAY. — The  waters  bring  forth  abundantly  the  moving 
nreature  that  hath  life,  and  fowl  of  the  air  ;  great  whales  ere- 


8  BREVIARY   OF  THE  ARGUMENT. 

ated  ;  the  seas  become  filled  with  animal  life  ;  the  four  great 
divisions  of  animals  ;  the  Radiata,  Mollusca,  and  the  Articulata 
described ;  extent  of  animal  life  previous  to  the  Tertiary 
era;  the  Spongiaria,  Polypifera,  and  Infusoria;  coral  reefs; 
wonders  of  the  microscope  ;  fossil  animalculae  ;  shells  of  Fora- 
menifera;  Echinodermata ;  descriptions  of  Molluscan  animals; 
the  Eucephalous  and  Acephalous  classes  ;  table  exhibiting  the 
distribution  of  fossil  molluscs  in  each  formation,  and  also  the 
species  of  existing  molluscs  ;  the  Articulata  division  ;  Annelida, 
Cirrhipoda,  Crustacea,  Arachnida,  Myriopoda,  andlnsecta;  table 
exhibiting  the  classes  and  characteristics  of  all  insects  ;  descrip- 
tions of  various  insects;  the  silk-worm  and  silk  manufactures  ; 
butterflies,  bees,  wasps,  and  ants  ;  governmental  discipline  ; 
grass-hoppers  and  locusts  ;  fallacy  of  the  theory  that  animal 
preceded  vegetable  life  ;  animalculse  in  the  juices  of  vegetation  ; 
vegetation  of  the  metamorphoric  era  ;  vegetation  the  distin- 
guishing feature  of  the  entire  Paleozoic  formation  ;  multiplicity 
of  geological  eras  ;  description  of  the  Secondary  formation  or 
fifth  day ;  the  new  red  sandstone  ;  salt  springs,  building  stones  ; 
fossil  foot-prints  of  extinct  animals  ;  the  Cheirotherium,  the  La- 
byrinthodon,  the  Microlestes,  the  Thecodontosaurus,  the  Apa- 
teon,  the  Archegosaurus,  the  Sauropos  primaevis  ;  diverse  views 
of  Geologists  ;  Lyell.  Owen,  King,  Lea,  Hitchcock,  Humboldt, 
Rogers  ;  sun-cracks  and  rain-drops  ;  contradictions  of  the  Bible  ; 
the  doubters  met  on  their  own  ground ;  the  truth  of  revelation 
vindicated  ;  the  existence  of  air  breathing  animals  prior  to  the  new 
red  sand  stone  disproved  ;  sun-cracks,  ripple-marks,  and  rain 
drops  accounted  for  ;  the  non-luminous  atmosphere  of  the  coal 
period  maintained ;  absurdity  of  geological  dogmas  ;  an  origi- 
nal discovery ;  the  Sauropus  moderni  or  what-is-it  ?  profes- 
sional jealousy  ;  economy  of  the  Pennsylvania  geological  sur- 
vey ;  discovery  of  the  Cobham  stone  by  Mr.  Pickwick — the 
celebrated  Pickwick  controversy  ;  explanation  of  the  origin  of 
rain-drops  and  sun-cracks  ;  showers  of  sulphuric  and  carbonic 
acid  ;  extraordinary  meteorological  phenomenon  ;  credulity  of 
the  world ;  its  readiness  to  receive  the  most  absurd  theories 
under  the  name  of  science  ;  animals  of  the  new  red  sandstone  ; 
foot-pr'nt.s  of  birds  ;  the  reason  of  their  early  introduction  upou 
the  earth  ;  Prof.  Hitchcock's  classification  of  the  extinct  bird- 
tracks  ;  an  inconvenience  suggested ;  classes  of  birds ;  of 


BREVIARY   OF   THE  ARGUMENT.  9 

fishes  ;  of  reptiles  described  ;  bones  of  different  animals ;  tha 
lias  group  of  rocks  ;  alternations  of  animal  life  ;  changes  not 
development  ;  the  Oolitic  rock ;  the  Vestiges  of  Creation  ; 
changes  in  the  ancient  types  of  fish ;  a  difficulty  reconciled  ; 
absence  of  whales  in  the  Oolite  accounted  for;  supposed 
marsupial  fossils  ;  the  Wealdon  strata — its  fossils  ;  the  Cre- 
taceous rocks  described ;  their  origin  and  distribution  ;  Creta- 
ceous and  Greensand  of  the  United  States  ;  review  of  the  secon- 
dary formation — the  era  of  marine  life  ;  distribution  of  its 
strata  ;  The  Mosaic  description  confirmed  ;  the  fifth  day  of  Mil- 
ton's "Paradise  Lost." 

THE  SIXTH  DAY— Land  animals  created ;  first  appearance  of 
man — he  is  clothed  with  dominion  over  the  earth  and  all  its  in- 
habitants ;  man  created  in  the  image  of  God,  and  destined  to 
increase  and  replenish  the  earth  ;  the  sixth  day  of  creation,  as 
described  by  Moses  ;  the  Tertiary  formation  described ;  its 
fossils  and  geographical  distribution  ;  its  gradual  passage  into 
the  Alluvium,  or  present  geological  era  ;  Nummulite  rocks  ;  the 
London  and  Paris  basins  ;  character  of  Tertiary  rocks  ;  vegeta- 
tion' of  the  Tertiary  ;  beds  of  brown  coal  and  lignite  ;  insects, 
polyps,  animalcules,  and  fishes  ;  the  ancient  and  modern  fishes  ; 
progressive  development  and  degradation  of  species  disproved  ; 
Hugh  Miller ;  fossils  of  whales  ;  their  immense  size ;  etc ; 
peculiar  significance  of  the  language  of  Moses  ;  the  Bible  requires 
no  apologies  in  its  behalf;  the  Tertiary  pre-eminently  the  age 
of  land  animals  ;  classification  of  Mammalia  ;  the  Diadelphian 
order  ;  pouched  animals  ;  the  Monadelphian  order  ;  the  Testacea ; 
the  Ruminantia ;  the  Pachydermata ;  the  Edentata  ;  the  Ro- 
dentia  ;  the  Cheiroptera  ;  the  Amphibia  ;  the  Carnivora ;  gene- 
ral description  of  the  animal  kingdom,  terminating  with  the 
Quadrumana,  and  the  Bimana  ;  the  object  of  creation  attained 
in  man  ;  the  marriage  of  Adam  and  Eve  ;  the  celebration  of  the 
work  of  creation,  and  the  dawn  of  the  Sabbath. 

THE  SEVENTH  DAY,  OR  SABBATH.— Description  of  Moses  ;  the 
heavens  and  the  earth  finished  ;  the  seventh  day  sanctified ; 
no  rain  in  the  earlier  epochs ;  the  basis  of  Christianity;  the 
mystery  of  Nature  ;  faith  ;  the  trinity  described  ;  the  origin  of 
worlds ;  the  rebellion  of  Satan ;  the  garden  of  Eden ;  the  fall 
of  Adam ;  and  his  punishment  ;  man's  position  in  relation 
to  the  Creator  ;  the  immortality  of  sin  ;  the  immaculate  concep 


10  BREVIARY   OF   THE   ARGUMENT. 

lion  ;  the  divinity  of  Christ ;  his  character,  motives,  and  doc- 
trines ;  the  triumph  of  man  over  sin  ;  history  of  the  Adamite 
race ;  the  universality  of  the  Noachian  flood ;  Christian  doubters ; 
Noah's  ark — its  dimensions  and  capacity  compared  with  the 
Great  Eastern ;  speculations  of  Hugh  Miller ;  estimates  of  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh  ;  number  of  species  of  animals  on  the  earth  ; 
antediluvian  giants  ;  young,  not  adult  animals  in  the  ark ;  the 
arrangement  of  the  animals  in  the  ark ;  effects  of  the  flood — 
how  produced  ;  the  fountains  of  the  deep  broken  up  ;  subterra- 
neous reservoirs  of  water ;  mountain  glaciers  ;  the  Alps ; 
movement  of  avalanches  ;  icebergs  off  Newfoundland  ;  icebergs 
in  mid-ocean  ;  character  of  icebergs  ;  erratic  boulders  and  mo- 
raines ;  Dr.  Kane  in  the  Arctic  regions  ;  the  great  Humboldt 
glacier  :  primitive  rocks,  and  fossil  animals  ;  volcanic  action  in 
the  polar  regions ;  the  flood  produced  by  the  breaking  up  of 
glaciers  ;  rain  generated  ;  universal  volcanic  eruptions  ;  river 
freshets ;  universality  of  the  flood  proved ;  submergence  and 
elevation  of  continents  and  mountains  ;  folly  of  contradicting 
the  express  language  of  the  Bible  ;  the  universality  of  the  flood 
denied,  but  yet  established  by  geologists  ;  submergence  of.con- 
tinents  explained  ;  the  Bible  vindicated  ;  fossils  of  the  diluvium  ; 
the  Niagara  River ;  antiquity  of  the  Mastodon  ;  the  original 
seat  of  the  antedilivian  race;  the  saltness  of  the  sea;  objec- 
tions of  Hugh  Miller  to  the  universality  of  the  flood ;  all 
natural  laws  are  miracles  ;  insects  in  the  ark ;  peculiarities  of 
insect  fecundation  and  generation ;  experiments  of  Messrs. 
Weeks  and  Crosse  explained — spontaneous  generation  denied; 
fallacious  positions  of  Hugh  Miller— the  tendency  of  his  Recon- 
ciliation ;  supposed  impossibility  of  accommodating  all  the 
animals  in  the  ark;  characteristic  fauna  of  continents;  animals 
of  South  America  different  from  the  older  continents  ;  analogy 
between  the  extinct  and  living  species  ;  fallacious  conclusions 
and  inferences  ;  the  extinct  species  destroyed  by  the  flood  and 
ihe  existing  species  preserved  in  the  ark,  including  many  now 
extinct  ;  the  Mastodon,  the  Megatherium,  the  Glyptodon,  etc., 
all  modern  ;  evidences  of  the  flood  considered  ;  traditions  of 
the  Indians  ;  opinions  of  Mr.  Jefferson  ;  the  mounds  of  the  West 
described  ;  works  of  art,  inscriptions,  and  skeletons  ;  the  golden 
anaglyphs  of  Chiriqui  ;  the  Indians  of  Central  America ;  re- 
marks of  Columbus  ;  the  ruins  of  Yucatan,  their  Egyptian  aspect ; 


BREVIARY  OP  THE  ARGUMENT.  H 

opinions  of  Stephens  ;  discovery  of  North  America  by  the 
"Northmen  ;  colonization  of  Massachusetts  and  New  York ; 
America  inhabited  by  white  men  in  the  ninth  century  ;  remarks 
of  Humboldt ;  Behring's  Straits  ;  the  Aleutian  islands  ;  proba- 
ble Asiatic  origin  of  the  Aborigines  of  America ;  how  they  may 
have  reached  this  continent  ;  the  ancient  Pelasgi  of  the  Medi- 
terranean ;  the  Egyptian  origin  of  American  Aborigines  ;  the 
arts,  religion,  and  civilization  of  the  Egyptians  ;  their  venera- 
tion for  animals  ;  their  religion  affords  the  key  to  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  animals  of  the  old  continents  into  America  ;  the  dis- 
persion of  the  family  of  Noah  ;  superiority  of  the  ancient  races 
over  those  of  the  modern  ;  the  development  of  arts  and  civiliza- 
tion of  description  of  the  works  of  the  Egyptians  ;  the  pyramids  ; 
the  lake  of  Moeris,  canals,  palaces,  etc.;  their  probable  geo- 
graphical knowledge  and  commercial  enterprise  ;  their  coloni- 
zation of  America ;  the  unity  of  races  ;  opinion  of  Humbpldt ; 
the  antiquity  of  American  vegetation  ;  the  animals  of  America  ; 
succession  of  races  of  animals  and  of  man  ;  the  workings  of 
Providence  ;  the  seventh  day  or  Sabbath  ;  an  institution  for  the 
ease  of  creation  ;  the  Sabbath  of  Nature  ;  extract  from  Leviticus  ; 
the  Sabbath  founded  in  natural  law  ;  chemistry  of  vegetable 
growth  j  alternation  of  crops  ;  necessity  of  the  Sabbath  to  man  ; 
the  Mosaic  idea  realized  ;  the  harmony  of  mankind  and  creation  ; 
man's  mind  god-like  ;  disquisition  on  the  order  of  Nature  ;  the 
law  of  Nature  the  guide  of  human  reason ;  man  the  concen- 
trated essence  of  creation  ;  God  the  God  of  Nature  I 


UNIVERSITY 

COAL  AmSML  OIL; 

OR, 

THE  GEOLOGY  OF  THE  EARTH. 
THE  FIRST  DAY— ASTRONOMICAL. 

1  In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heaven  and  the  earth.  2  And  the 
earth  was  without  form,  and  voidj  and  darkness  was  upon  the  face  of  the 
dt  ep.  And  the  spirit  of  God  moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters.  3  And 
God  said,  Let  there  be  lightj  and  there  was  light.  4  And  God  saw  the 
light,  that  it  was  good ;  and  God  divided  the  light  from  the  darkness, 
5  And  God  called  the  light  Day,  and  the  darkness  he  called  Night.  And 
the  evening  and  the  morning  were  the  first  day. 

IT  is  needless  to  remark,  at  the  outset,  that  the  subject 
which  I  propose  to  consider  is  the  most  interesting,  com- 
prehensive, and  universal  in  the  whole  range  of  intel- 
lectual grasp.  The  mysteries  of  creation,  and  the  external 
objects  surrounding  and  involving  us,  having  engrossed 
the  attention  of  mankind,  more  or  less,  for  several  thousand 
years,  it  may  appear  rash  and  vain  in  an  individual  like 
myself,  to  enter  the  field  of  investigation  ;  yet  individuals 
like  myself  have  an  equal  and  co-ordinate  interest  in  the 
subject  with  the  greatest  of  their  fellow  creatures  ;  and  no 
effort,  founded  in  good  intentions,  to  throw  new  light  on 
an  old  theme,  can  be  regarded  as  altogether  vain.  While 
u  e  have  the  benefit  of  the  accumulated  learning  of  past 
ages,  it  is  perhaps  questionable  whether  the  aggregate 
amount  of  actual  knowledge  on  this  particular  subject  has 
2  (13) 


14  THE   FIRST   DAY — ASTRONOMICAL. 

been  materially  increased  ;  or,  if  increased,  whether  it  has 
been  collated  into  a  proper  focus.  We  see  with  the  same 
eyes — we  are  .compelled  to  use  the  same  bodily  organs 
that  were  used  by  the  "  fathers  and  awful  rulers  of  man- 
kind." The  Telescope  and  the  Microscope  have,  indeed, 
revealed  new  creations  and  millions  of  new  worlds;  but 
instead  of  lessening  the  absolute  mystery  of  God's  work, 
they  have  only  extended  the  boundaries  of  the  field.  Had 
we  depended  on  our  own  resources — had  we  been  cut  off 
from  the  experience  and  fallacious  deductions  of  former 
ages,' physical  investigations  might,  perhaps,  have  been 
directed  into  unexplored  channels,  and  thus  have  opened  up 
new  wonders  in  the  regions  of  creation,  and  thrown  new 
light  upon  those  now  obscure.  It  may  be  said  that,  just 
now,  all  physical  phenomena  are  surveyed  through  the 
glasses  of  the  past ;  and  though  the  rays  of  light  are  re- 
flected and  refracted  by  the  most  ingenious  instruments, 
the  varied  colors  we  obtain,  like  those  which  span  the 
vault  of  heaven,  only  remind  us,  after  all,  of  the  distance 
and  the  unfathomable  depths,  complications,  and  difficul- 
ties that  encompass  us  on  every  hand. 

"In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heaven  and  the 
earth."  This  implies  that  there  was  a  time  when  the 
heaven  and  the  earth  did  not  exist — a  fact  which  reason 
can  at  least  entertain  ;  for  we  know  there  was  a  time  when 
we  did  not  exist — when  the  rocks  under  our  feet,  and  the 
mountains  towering  over  our  heads,  did  not  exist.  These 
things  we  know,  and  others  we  can  believe.  But  was  there 
a  time  when  God  himself  did  not  exist  ?  Who  clothed 
Him  with  power  to  create  worlds  ?  Whence  was  derived 
that  perfection  of  wisdom  and  of  action  that  enables  him 
to  diffuse  throughout  illimitable  space  the  unceasing  har- 
mony of  Nature  ?  The  inspired  writer  says  nothing  on 
this  point,  for  he  well  knew  that  human  reason  could  not 
grasp  it.  It  is  one  of  those  awful  m}rsteries,  the  existence 


THOUGHT  AND   VISION   LIMITED.  15 

of  which  Knowledge,  with  her  dim  lantern,  may  descry, 
but  cannot  approach.  Every  attempt  to  go  beyond  the 
line  of  divine  revelation,  or  to  explore  phenomena  strictly 
ante-mundane,  can  only  result  in  the  aberration  of  reason 
or  in  the  dreamy  vagaries  and  sophistries  of  philosophy. 
From  the  lofty  glacial  peaks  of  Mont  Blanc  or  the  Hima- 
laya— mountains  that,  like  Castor  and  Pollux,  belong 
equally  to  heaven  and  to  earth — the  eye  may  gloat  on  the 
scenic  splendors  that  spread  out  before  it,  until  their  dim 
outlines  fade  into  the  blue  azure  of  the  horizon.  It  is 
precisely  thus  with  the  mind.  Thought  and  vision  are 
alike  confined  within  certain  limits,  beyond  which  it  is 
impossible  to  go.  Vision  may  be  extended  by  elevating 
the  surveying  position  ;  and  the  Telescope  can  introduce 
us  to  new  worlds  in  the  regions  of  space.  So,  too,  Thought 
may  be  rendered  more  comprehensive  by  mathematical 
formulae  and  philosophical  deduction ;  but  after  all,  in 
either  case,  we  only  attain  a  dizzy  precipice  amid  the 
dark,  mysterious  gloom.  When,  therefore,  we  speculate 
upon  the  original  Beginning  or  the  final  End,  we  simply 
enter  the  precincts  of  those  dark  clouds  that  intervene 
between  Death  and  the  awakening  resurrection — between 
the  material  world  of  which  we  constitute  a  part,  and  that 
unknown  universe  that  lies  beneath  the  dome  of  God  I 

tl  The  lamb  thy  riot  dooms  to  bleed  to-day — 
Had  he  thy  Reason,  would  he  skip  and  play? 
Pleased  to  the  last,  he  crops  the  flow'ry  food, 
And  licks  the  hand  just  raised  to  shed  his  blood! 
Oh,  blindness  to  the  future !  kindly  given, 
That  each  may  fill  the  circle  marked  by  Heaven  !" 

As  to  the  practical  cosmogony  of  worlds,  and  especially 

that  which  we  inhabit,  human  intellect  has  no  restrictions 

imposed  upon  it  beyond  its  own  inherent  weakness.     God 

has  deigned  to  enlighten  us  upon  all  points  involviig  our 

2 


16  THE  FIRST   DAY — ASTRONOMICAL. 

immediate  and  future  happiness  ;  and  it  is  our  right  and 
duty  to  extend  our  knowledge  of  his  works  by  all  the  aids 
we  can  command,  and  which  his  benevolence  has  fur- 
nished. Living  upon  a  planet,  more  or  less  influenced  by 
all  the  others,  we  have  a  right  to  inquire  into  the  relations 
they  severally  hold  to  each  other  and  to  us,  but  more 
especially  into  the  varied  phenomena  immediately  around 
us.  Our  interest  in  every  thing  God  has  created  is  direct 
and  vital ;  and  the  investigation  of  Nature  and  its  laws  is, 
therefore,  among  the  most  rational  and  elevating  duties 
which  the  Creator  has  allotted  to  us.  It  is,  in  fact,  a 
special  duty  and  pleasure,  from  which  the  inferior  animals 
are  all  exempt ;  and  hence  we  have  been  provided  with 
organs  of  speech,  of  reason,  reflection,  observation,  and 
mechanical  power,  by  which  we  can  render  the  earth  we 
inhabit  tributary  to  our  gratification  ;  by  which  we  are 
able  to  cultivate  and  embellish  it ;  and,  while  taking  <;are 
of  the  creatures  whom  God  has  intrusted  to  our  custody, 
also  render  them  subservient  to  our  wishes  and  plea- 
sures. 

The  earth  which  we  inhabit,  we  have  every  reason  to 
believe,  is  infinitely  older  than  the  popular  mind  has  been 
led  to  suppose.  Instead  of  six  (or,  as  some  claim,  seven 
or  eight)  thousand  years,  an  examination  of  its  rocky 
crust,  and  the  laws  controlling  its  primary  structure, 
proves  it  to  be  of  vast  and  utterly  incalculable  antiquity. 
In  this  respect,  Geology  occupies  the  same  ground,  in  re- 
lation to  time,  that  Astronomy  does  in  relation  to  distance 
and  space.  The  one  can  only  compute  the  age  of  particu- 
lar formations  or  eras  by  millions  of  years;  while  the 
other  measures  the  distance  which  separates  the  revolv- 
ing planets  from  the  central  sun  by  millions  of  miles. 

It  is  true  the  Bible  tells  us  God  made  the  earth  in  six 
days.  To  doubt  its  holy  authenticity  would  betray  an 
irreverence  unworthy  the  enlightened  sentiment  of  the 


DAYS.  OR  COSMOGONAL  ERAS.  17 

age — unworthy  the  granitic  basis  of  Christian  civilization. 
But  may  we  not  doubt  whether  we  understand  clearly 
what  was  intended  to  be  conveyed  ?  Are  we  perfectly 
sure  that  we  have  not  misapprehended  the  true  meaning  ? 
The  word  day,  as  at  present  understood,  is  generally  re- 
stricted to  express  the  diurnal  revolution  of  the  earth  on 
its  axis  ;  or  more  properly,  to  that  time  during  which  one 
half  of  its  surface  is  presented  to  the  sun.  This  revolution 
occupies  twenty-four  hours,  divided  into  darkness  and 
light ;  but  as  only  one  half  the  earth  is  illuminated  at  a 
time,  it  follows  that  the  portion  of  its  orbit  which  is  ele- 
vated above  the  rays  of  the  sun  must  be  involved  in  the 
darkness  of  night.  This  darkness  at  the  poles  continues 
without  intermission  for  six  months,  until  the  earth,  having 
attained  the  equinox,  night  again  gives  place  to  six  months 
of  uninterrupted  day.  Thus,  while  our  days  include  but 
twenty-four  hours,  those  of  the  polar  regions  have  8,760 ; 
or,  while  it  requires  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  of  our 
days  to  make  a  year,  it  requires  but  one  in  the  polar 
circles.  We  have  no  reason  to  infer  that  Moses  was  un- 
acquainted with  this  phenomenon,  since  it  will  hereafter 
be  seen  that  he  describes  many  others  altogether  unknown 
to  the  age  in  which  he  lived ;  but  it  leads  us  naturally  to 
the  inquiry  whether  the  word  day,  as  used  by  him,  does 
not  more  probably  contemplate  great  geological  or  cos- 
mogonal  eras,  or  lengthened  periods  of  time,  than  the 
twenty-four  hours  of  our  calendar.  The  Hebrews  used 
the  word  to  express  circles  of  events  and  periods  of  time, 
without  regard  to  duration,  as  contradistinguished  from 
other  circles  and  periods  of  time ;  and  there  is  no  doubt 
that  its  subsequent  absorption  into  specific  chronology, 
sidereal  phenomena,  and  the  diurnal  revolutions  of  the 
earth,  is  mainly  due  to  this  cause.  It  does  not  follow,  be- 
cause these  phenomena  existed  previously,  that  the  same 
word  was  invariably  used  to  tlesignate  them ;  and  if  it 


18  THE   FIRST   DAY — ASTRONOMICAL. 

was,  there  is  no  reason  to  infer  that  its  meaning  was  con- 
fined to  the  expression  of  twenty- four  hours  ;  for  as  the 
diurnal  revolution  of  the  earth  actually  describes  a  circle, 
or  nearly  a  true  circle,  there  would  be  sufficient  and  equal 
propriety  in  applying  the  word  to  all  other  circles  of  time, 
whether  great  or  small.  During  and  long  after  the  time 
of  Moses,  much  diversity  existed  among  the  different  na- 
tions in  regard  to  calendar  time.  Romulus,  133  years 
before  Christ,  divided  the  year  into  ten  months  ;  but  this 
was  not  a  true  year,  because  it  requires,  instead  of  the 
304  days  which  he  allowed,  365  days,  5  hours,  48  minutes 
and  51  seconds  for  the  earth  to  make  her  annual  revolu- 
tion around  the  sun.  Numa  Pompilius,  his  successor, 
shortly  afterward  added  two  additional  months ;  but  the 
fractional  parts  were  still  wanting  to  make  the  year  cor- 
rect. Julius  Caesar,  therefore,  only  forty-five  years  before 
the  birth  of  Christ,  made  the  year  to  include  365  days  and 
6  hours,  and  established  every  fourth  year  as  a  leap-year^ 
so  as  to  make  up  for  the  accumulating  fractions  of  time. 
But  the  year  thus  became  too  long,  and  it  was  reserved 
for  Pope  Gregory  XIII. ,  in  the  year  A.  D.  1582,  to  ordain 
that  the  ten  days  between  March  11  and  March  21,  should 
be  omitted  ;  so  that,  in  that  particular  year,  March  21 
came  directly  after  March  11.  And  to  prevent  future  ir- 
regularity, it  was  provided  that  the  first  year  of  a  century 
should  not  be  a  leap-year,  with  the  exception  of  the  first 
year  of  every  fourth  century.  Thus,  IT 00  and  1800  were 
not  leap-years,  nor  will  1900  be  ;  but  2000  will  be  such. 
In  this  way  true  calendar  time  is  obtained,  or  obtained 
as  nearly  as  it  is  possible  under  the  circumstances. 

But,  as  contradistinguished  from  night,  it  appears  that 
day  originally  expressed  heat  and  warmth,  or  that  which 
generates  heat,  warmth,  or  desire ;  and  as  applied  in  the 
Mosaic  record  to  lengthened  cosmogonal  eras,  during 
which  the  work  of  creation  was  proceeding,  nothing  could 


MEANING   OF   THE   WORD   DAY.  19 

have  been  more  appropriate  ;  for  as  the  earth,  after  its 
expulsion  from  the  central  nucleus  of  the  universe,  or  the 
seat  of  the  creative  volition,  could  not  have  come  directly 
under  the  periodic  influence  of  the  sun,  in  its  embryonic 
condition,  it  is  certain  that  no  such  days  as  our  ow.n  could 
then  have  existed,  and  were  therefore  not  contemplated  by 
Moses,  except  so  far  as  they  implied  warmth,  heat,  or 
life-infusing  periods.  It  was  only  after  the  appearance 
of  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars,  on  the  fourth  day  of  creation, 
that  our  days,  properly  so  understood,  could  have  existed. 
And  even  with  us,  the  word  has  had  various  significations 
among  different  nations,  and  at  different  periods.  The 
ancient  Babylonians  began  their  day  at  the  rising  of  the 
sun,  while  the  Jews  reckoned  theirs  from  its  -  setting. 
The  Egyptians  began  their  day  at  midnight ;  and  such  is 
now  the  custom  of  the  Spanish,  French,  English  and 
American  people. 

"The  evening  and  the  morning  were  the  first  day." — 
Such  is  the  expression  of  Moses  throughout.  Evening, 
with  us,  expresses  the  decline  of  day,  while  morning  is, 
strictly,  its  beginning.  But  what  of  the  intermediate 
time — the  day  proper,  as  distinguished  from  night  ?  That 
such  days  did  not  exist  during  the  earlier  stages  of  crea- 
tion, is  sufficiently  apparent  by  the  express  language  and 
obvious  meaning  of  the  inspired  writer.  The  morning,  in 
the  absence  of  day,  stretched  to  the  evening,  and  the  even- 
ing to  the  morning.  A  circle  of  time  is  thus  formed,  sig- 
nificant %of  the  first  epoch  of  creation.  But,  in  the  face  of 
the  discrepancies  among  nations  themselves  as  to  the 
meaning  of  a  simple  word,  and  that  word  one  of  the  old- 
est in  all  languages,  where  is  the  force  of  assuming  incon- 
sistency in  the  divine  record?  The  miitake,  and  the 
corruption  of  words,  is  with  ourselves;  but  truth  is 
unchanging,  and  in  proportion  as  we  consult  nature  and 
physical  law,  our  ability  to  see  and  comprehend  it  is  in- 


20  THE   FIRST   DAY — ASTRONOMICAL. 

creased.  But  while  Moses  uses  the  word  symbolically 
and  as  a  convenient  measure  of  lime,  he  also  uses  it  in  a 
more  direct  sense  to  express  lengthened  periods.  This  is 
perfectly  conclusive  in  the  second  chapter  of  Genesis, 
where  he  says  :  "These  are  the  generations  of  the  heavens 
and  of  the  earth  when  they  were  created,  in  the  day  that 
the  Lord  God  made  the  earth  and  the  heavens,  and  every 
plant  of  the  field  before  it  was  in  the  earth,  and  every 
herb  of  the  field  before  it  grew  :  for  the  Lord  God  had  not 
caused  it  to  rain  upon  the  earth,  and  there  was  not  a  man 
to  till  the  ground.  But  there  went  up  a  mist  from  the 
earth,  and  watered  the  whole  face  of  the  ground."  The 
word  day  is  not  only  used  here  to  express  lengthened 
periods,  but  the  whole  sentence  expressly  implies  length- 
ened periods.  "There  was  no  rain;"  "there  was  not  a 
man  to  till  the  ground;"  "there  went  up  a  mist  and 
watered  the  whole  face  of  the  earth" — these  facts  contem- 
plate long  periods.  No  one  could  suppose  for  a  moment, 
that  the  ground  could  have  been  cultivated,  since  the  land 
itself  had  only  emerged  from  the  dominion  of  the  sea  on 
the  third  day.  And  where  would  have  been  the  necessity 
for  rain,  if  the  land  had  only  emerged  from  the  water  one 
or  two  days  previously  ?  All  this  shows  very  conclusively 
that  Moses  used  the  word  day  to  express  lengthened 
periods;  and  it  is  impossible  to  contemplate  his  narrative 
in  any  other  light.  The  word  is  often  used  in  other 
portions  of  the  holy  book,  as  the  "  day  of  salvation"  in 
second  Corinthians;  the  "day  of  Christ,"  in  the  eighth 
chapter  of  St.  John  ;  the  "  day  of  retribution,"  in  St.  Paul, 
and  elsewhere,  both  in  the  Old  and  the  New  Testament. 
The  word  is  often  used  nowadays  in  a  precisely  similar 
sense.  But  St.  Peter,  as  if  to  dispel  all  doubt  on  this 
point,  declares  that  "  one  day  is  with  the  Lord  as  a  thou- 
sand years,  and  a  thousand  years  as  one  day." 

Among  the  original  promulgators  of  the  revealed  law 


ANTIQUITY   0V  THE   EARTH.  21 

themselves,  there  never  appears  to  have  been  the  least 
misunderstanding  or  disagreement  whatever.  They  were 
a  unit  in  all  the  details  and  operations  of  their  religious 
system.  But  it  is  with  unaffected  sadness  that  we  now 
behold  the  Christian  world  very  much  and  often  bitterly 
divided  in  mere  forms,  as  well  as  doctrinal  opinions. 
When  we  come  to  a  calm  consideration  of  the  peculiar 
circumstances  under  which  the  Book  was  translated  at 
various  times,  and  handed  down  from  one  generation  and 
nation  to  another,  invariably  more  or  less  affected  by  their 
varied  ideas,  habits,  and  nomenclature,  I  think  we  have 
a  right  to  assume,  not  that  there  is  or  was  error  in  the 
revelation  itself,  but  that,  if  any  really  exist,  it  originated 
in  our  own  translations  and  misapprehension,  and  is  still, 
perhaps,  sustained  by  the  ignorance  and  questionable 
zeal  of  infatuated  Theologasters — the  dealers  and  venders 
of  a  spurious  salvation. 

However  this  may  be,  the  antiquity  of  the  earth  is  es- 
tablished by  the  physical  witnesses  everywhere  around 
us ;  bv  the  unimpeachable  testimony  of  the  great  Creator 
himself,  written  on  the  faithful  old  rocks  of  the  valley  and 
the  mountain,  in  language  sufficiently  plain  and  universal 
to  be  understood  by  the  people  of  every  clime,  and  tongue, 
and  condition.  And  it  may  properly  be  assumed  of  the 
Holy  Word  itself,  that  it  was  not  addressed  to  one  gene- 
ration alone,  but  to  the  people  of  all  time,  within  the 
boundless  eternity ;  and  that,  whatever  appears  obscure 
now,  in  the  unceasing  progress  of  human  events — by  the 
increase  of  illuminating  force,  instead  of  interposing  im- 
aginary contradictions,  which  all  experience  has  shown  to 
be  transient  and  ephemeral,  its  solemn  truths  will  be  ren- 
dered more  and  more  overwhelming  to  our  improved 
nature  and  understanding.  True  Science  and  true  Re- 
ligion, if  not  really  co-operative  in  their  worldly  missions, 
are  at  least  never  hostile  or  inconsistent  with  each  other ; 


22  THE   FIRST   DAY — ASTRONOMICAL. 

for  while  the  one  speaks  in  the  poetry  of  inspiration  of 
the  beneficence  of  the  Creator,  and  of  his  fatherly  pro- 
vision for  the  offspring  of  his  hands,  the  other  as  grace- 
fully unfolds  the  phenomena  of  his  sublime  laws,  and  with 
eloquence  beyond  human  speech,  points  out  the  enduring 
monuments  of  his  greatness,  wisdom,  and  power. 

But  it  may  be  remarked,  with  no  disposition  to  find 
fault,  that  while  the  immediate  votaries  of  Science  and 
Religion  are  themselves  generally  content  with  the  pre- 
sumed harmony  and  compatibility  of  the  leading  dogmas 
of  each,  they  have  thus  far  failed  to  submit  a  scheme  of 
Reconciliation,  satisfactory  in  all  its  details  to  both  parties, 
and  more  especially  to  the  great  mass  of  mankind,  who, 
trembling  in  the  feeble  and  unstable  faith  that  is  in  them, 
naturally  look  to  the  researches  of  the  learned  for  confi- 
dence and  support.  And  if  this  observation  may  be  con- 
tinued a  little  further,  it  is  at  least  questionable  whether  the 
mere  annunciation  of  individual  belief  in  an  irregular 
and  undefined  Reconciliation,  and  which  is  exposed  to  all 
the  involutions  and  obscurities  of  conflicting  Theological, 
Geological,  and  Astronomical  theories,  be  not,  after  all, 
more  detrimental  than  beneficial  to  the  progress  of  sound 
Religion,  as  well  as  to  Science  and  Truth.  Religion, 
indeed,  can  stand  on  no  firmer  or  broader  foundation  than 
the  recognized  phenomena  of  Nature.  The  earth,  the 
mountains,  the  rocks,  the  sea,  the  stars,  and  the  over- 
arching firmament,  excite  the  wonder  and  the  admiration 
of  man.  They  speak  to  him  in  his  hours  of  solitude.  They 
are  ever  present  in  his  walks.  They  do  not  bear  the 
impress  of  human  art.  They  bespeak  a  power  infinitely 
higher  and  nobler  than  man.  The  air  we  breathe  whispers 
of  an  all-pervading  God !  And  these  are  his  works! 
Should  there  be  any  fear  of  them — any  mystery  or  con- 
cealment touching  them  ?  Should  Religion  hesitate  to 
explain  them  from  the  pulpit,  or  to  call  willing  Science  to 


NATURAL    SCJENCE    SEIZED    BY   INFIDELITY.  23 

her  aid  ?  Would  it  not  be  wiser  to  disseminate  tracts 
embodying  the  simple  truths  of  Nature,  rather  than  moral 
and  effeminate  fictions?  There 'is  no  merit  in  the  con- 
cealment of  truth  from  the  popular  mind ;  nor  can  strength 
be  gained  by  undue  forbearance,  or  unmanly  retreat  from 
the  field  of  investigation.  The  sermons  which  the  Creator 
has  written  on  stones,  are  more  potent  for  good  than  all 
the  cant  flummery  of  pulpit  Mawworms,  or  all  the  digni- 
fied mummery  of  scarlet-robed  cardinals  and  pontiffs.  If 
Religion  be  a  serious  reality,  it  must  be  exemplified  in 
Nature,  since  it  is  only  through  the  works  of  God  that  we 
are  enabled  to  comprehend  and  approach  him.  The 
world  is  governed  too  much  by  mere  men — too  little  by 
unerring  Nature.  All  the  wisdom  of  mortals  is  the  veriest 
nonsense,  if  not  derived  from  her  teachings  and  counsels; 
and  if  this  be  true,  how  can  we  make  an  exception  for 
Religion  ? 

The  simple  truth  is,  that,  long  since  perceiving  the 
secret  strength  which  Theology  could  derive  by  a  closer 
and  more  familiar  alliance  with  the  leading  dogmas  of 
Geology,  Astronomy,  and  the  co-ordinate  branches  of 
Natural  Science,  and  the  freezing  indifference  with  which 
these  powerful  allies  have  always  been  regarded,  Infidelity 
has  stepped  forward,  and  suggesting  plausible  interpreta- 
tions of  the  material  scattered  over  the  earth  by  the  God 
of  Nature  himself,  has  thrown  up  thin  partitions  between 
them  and  Revelation,  and  boldly  elaborated  ingenious,  in- 
ferential, and  pseudo-philosophical  hypotheses  to  destroy 
the  harmony  that  should  exist  between  them.  The  vail 
of  doubt,  thus  thrown  over  Revelation,  impairs  the  essence 
of  true  religion,  subverts  the  moral  sentiments,  and  gives 
free  license  to  the  human  passions.  While  the  world 
seems  to  be  advancing  in  the  scale  of  learning,  and  in  all 
the  arts  and  blandishments  of  civilized  life,  the  pro  rata  of 
crime,  wickedness,  and  folly,  appear  to  be  as  great  and 


24  THE   FIRST   DAY — ASTRONOMICAL. 

universal  now  as  it  was  several  centuries  ago.  Immo- 
rality, indeed,  may  be  more  refined  and  polished  to  accord 
with  the  standard  of  a  higher  intellectuality  ; — but  there 
seems  to  be  no  diminution  of  its  universality  or  of  its  vital 
force,  as  compared  with  previous  ages.  Inherent  in  the 
blood  and  flesh  of  man,  vice  seems  t*  grow  with  cultivation, 
like  the  seeds  scattered  by  the  farmer.  Growing  thus  in  the 
extended  domains  of  Christianity,  it  presents  a  humiliat- 
ing comment  on  its  policy  and  boasted  virtues.  And  yet, 
so  long  as  the  spirit  of  worldly  pride  is  fostered  in  the 
church,  what  other  result  couM  be  anticipated  ? 

But  to  return  to  the  antiquity  of  the  earth  :  Had  we 
no  other  evidence  to  destroy  the  theory  of  its  simultaneous 
creation,  with  the  first  efforts  of  the  divine  volition,  the 
mere  want  of  parallelism,  or  conformable  order,  between 
the  proximate  layers  of  the  several  great  formations, 
would  alone  suffice.  For  while,  in  the  character  of  their 
fossil  remains,  and  the  circumstances  of  their  deposition 
and  elevation,  they  all  preserve  a  peculiar  individuality, 
they  yet  often  occur  in  the  utmost  confusion  to  each  other; 
thus  pointing  unmistakably  to  periods  of  alternating  ac- 
tivity and  repose — or  more  properly,  lengthened  periods 
of  night  and  day.  But  not  only  is  there  a  positive  agree- 
ment, in  the  number  of  cosmical  eras,  with  the  six  creative 
days  of  Moses,  but  there  is  also  a  regular  correspondence, 
from  first  to  last,  in  the  prominent  features  of  each. 
Geology,  as  a  science,  was  wholly  unknown  to  the  era  of 
Moses — so,  too,  was  Astronomy,  so  far  as  true  mathe- 
matical and  telescopic  investigations  are  concerned.  And 
yet  Moses  describes  phenomena  which  the  brightest  intel- 
lects of  the  world  have  been  several  thousand  years  in 
discovering.  He  indicates  a  progressive  movement  which 
the  author  of  the  Vestiges  of  Creation  might  have  studied 
with  profit,  and  which  we  may  define  with  Pictet,  thus  : 
that  the  species  of  one  geological  epoch,  as  a  general  thing, 


THE  ANTIQUITY  OF  THE  EARTH  PROVED.       25 

lived  neither  before  nor  after  that  epoch ; — that  the  differ- 
ences between  extinct  faunas  and  living  animals,  are  greater 
in  proportion  to  their  antiquity  ; — that  the  comparison  of 
faunas  of  different  eras  shows  that  the  temperature  of  the 
earth  has  been  greatly  varied; — that  the  species  which 
lived  in  the  present  eras  had  a  more  extended  geographi- 
cal distribution  than  the  species  which  exist  now ; — and 
that  the  faunas  of  the  ancient  strata  are  composed  of 
animals  of  a  more  simple  organization,  and  their  degree 
of  perfection  increases  in  proportion  as  we  approach  eras 
more  recent. 

These  phenomena  are  all  indicated  in  regular  order  and 
succession,  in  the  Mosaic  account  of  the  creation ;  and 
we  thus  perceive  an  onward,  progressive  movement — 
every  era  improving  upon  the  last,  and  all  contradicting 
the  idea  of  simultaneous  action,  or  what  amounts  to  nearly 
the  same  thing,  creative  action  of  six  day's  duration. 
But  I  must  here  add  a  word  of  caution  touching  the  char- 
acter of  this  progress.  While  we  discover  a  progressive 
development  in  the  geological  eras,  as  compared  with  each 
leading  formation  in  ascending  order,  it  is  not  a  continuous 
and  uninterrupted  chain  of  development  of  species  and 
type,  from  a  low  to  a  higher  order,  as  claimed  by  the 
author  of  the  Vestiges  of  Creation.  It  is,  in  fact,  quite 
the  contrary — inasmuch  as  every  era  was  furnished  with 
a  new  and  special  creation,  thereby  isolating  and  discon- 
necting it  from  those  of  the  preceding  or  succeeding  eras. 
This  fact  is  clear  and  overwhelming  to  the  geological  in- 
vestigator ;  and  it  is  unmistakably  embodied  in  the  con- 
cise narrative  of  Moses.  Had  he  introduced  man  in  any 
other  than  the  modern  geological  era ;  or  had  he  given 
precedence  to  animal  over  vegetable  life,  or  spoken  of 
marine  animals  in  the  nascent  seas  of  the  earth — all  this 
would  have  utterly  destroyed  the  authenticity  and  integ- 
rity of  his  history.  His  narrative  is  therefore  not  only 


26  THE   FIRST   DAY — ASTRONOMICAL. 

true  in  all  its  details  and  inferences,  but  it  comprises  one 
of  the  most  remarkable,  concise,  and  perfect  descriptions 
of  natural  phenomena  ever  written  ;  and  it  is  not  in  the 
power  of  any  living  man  to  infuse  into  words  any  thing 
like  the  same  amount  of  meaning. 

Geology,  however,  does  not  stand  alone  in  maintaining 
the  vast  antiquity  of  our  globe.  All  the  co-ordinate 
branches  of  science  confirm  it,  and  Astronomy  establishes 
it  on  the  fixed  basis  of  mathematical  demonstration.  Mer- 
cury is  the  nearest  planet  to  the  sun — the  intervening 
distance  which  separates  them  being  thirty-seven  millions 
of  miles.  Then  comes  Yenus,  revolving  at  a  distance  of 
sixty-eight  millions  ;  and  then  the  Earth  which  we  inhabit, 
ninety-five  millions  of  miles  distant.  After  the  earth 
comes  Mars,  one  hundred  and  forty-four  millions  from  the 
sun  ;  and  then  we  have  the  eight  asteroids  discovered  by 
Herschell,  and  which  perhaps  average  two  hundred  and 
fifty  millions  of  miles  each.  Next  to  these  asteroids  is 
Jupiter,  whirling  through  space  at  a  distance  of  four  hun- 
dred and  ninety  millions  of  miles  from  the  sun ;  then 
Saturn,  nine  hundred  millions ;  then  Uranus,  nineteen 
hundred  millions ;  and  finally  Neptune,  twenty-eight  hun- 
dred millions  of  miles  from  the  centre  of  the  solar  system. 
As  the  lighthouse  guides  the  benighted  mariner  in  his 
trackless  path  along  the  tempestuous  coasts  of  the  ocean, 
so  even  these  distant  luminaries  seem  to  guide  us  along 
the  sloping  shores  of  Time — for  they  remain  forever  "  for 
signs,  and  for  seasons,  and  for  days  and  years."  But  as 
we  turn  from  star  to  star,  and  from  cluster  to  cluster,  with 
all  the  aids  that  art  and  successive  ages  have  placed  in 
our  grasp,  we  must  cease  further  pursuit,  to  fall  down 
and  adore  !  The  ocean  of  infinite  Space  expands  before 
the  view,  and  its  azure  hue  separates  our  "  mortal  coil' 
from  the  unexplored  Eternity  I 

The  earth  is  but  ninety-five  millions  of  miles  from  the 


IMMENSITY   OF   SPACE   AND   PLANETARY   DISTANCE.        27 

sun  around  which  it  revolves — a  distance  which,  compared 
with  that  of  Neptune  or  Uranus,  is  comparatively  insig- 
nificant. Yet,  in  an  age  of  steam  and  magnetic  tele- 
gijaphs,  no  human  being  can  realize  such  an  extent  of 
space.  Ninety-five  millions — of  miles  !  It  has  been  re- 
marked that  a  cannon-ball,  urged  at  the  greatest  velocity 
which  such  a  projectile  ever  attained,  would  consume 
more  than  twenty  years  in  penetrating  such  a  space. 
Our  nearest  nocturnal  neighbor,  "  the  inconstant  moon," 
is  but  two  hundred  and  thirty-seven  thousand  miles  from 
us — a  distance  so  trifling  that  astronomers  have  actually 
mapped  its  geognostic  configuration,  and  bestowed  names 
upon  its  principal  mountains,  craters,  deserts,  and  green 
plains.  Some  persons,  indeed,  indulging  a  taste  for  geology, 
have  speculated  upon  its  physical  composition,  which  has 
popularly  been  referred  to  green  cheese  ! — (curdled,  very 
likely,  from  the  Milky  Whey  /) 

It  has  been  ascertained,  by  various  ingenious  experi- 
ments, that  light  penetrates  space  with  a  speed  some- 
thing like  161,000  miles  per  second.  This,  multiplied  by 
60,  would  give  a  fraction  over  ten  millions  of  miles  per 
minute,  or  600,000,000  per  hour,  and  122,400,000,000  per 
day.  Strange  as  it  may  appear,  we  know  that  there  are 
planets  and  clusters  of  stars  and  nebulae  so  far  beyond  the 
reach  of  our  telescopes,  that,  even  at  the  extraordinary 
speed  with  which  light  diffuses  itself,  it  must  have  re- 
quired, in  some  cases,  several  millions  of  years  for  their 
light  to  reach  the  earth.  Now,  the  Milky  Way  forms 
one  of  the  grandest  features  of  the  firmament.  It  com- 
pletely encircles  the  whole  fabric  of  the  skies,  and  sends 
its  light  down  upon  us,  according  to  the  best  observations, 
from  no  less  than  eighteen  millions  of  suns.  These  are 
planted  at  various  distances,  too  remote  to  be  more  than 
feebly  understood  ;  but  their  light,  the  medium  of  meas- 
urement, requires,  for  its  transmission  to  our  earth,  pe- 


28  THE   FIRST   DAY — ASTRONOMICAL. 

riods  ranging  from  ten  to  many  thousands  of  years.  Such  is 
the  sum  of  the  great  truths  revealed  to  us  by  the  two  Her- 
scheils,  who,  with  a  zeal  which  no  obstacle  could  daunt, 
have  explored  every  part  of  the  prodigious  circle.  Sir 
William  Herschell,  after  accomplishing  his  famous  sec- 
tion, believed  that  he  had  gauged  the  Milky  Way  to  its 
lowest  depth,  affirming  that  he  could  follow  a  cluster  of 
stars  with  his  telescope,  constructed  expressly  for  the  in- 
vestigation, as  far  back  as  would  require  330,000  years 
for  the  transmission  of  its  light.  I  am  well  aware  that, 
to  the  minds  of  some  readers,  such  statements  will  appear 
wild,  if  not  perfectly  incredible.  But  they  will  perhaps 
receive  some  degree  of  credence  when  it  is  remembered 
that  the  same  scientific  acumen  and  research  which  en- 
abled Kepler,  Newton,  Leverrier,  or  Herschell  to  explore 
and  resolve  astronomical  phenomena,  also  enables  more 
humble  workers  in  the  vast  regions  of  space  to  foretell, 
with  unerring  exactness,  an  eclipse  of  the  sun  or  moon, 
the  eccentric  movements  of  comets,  or  any  other  sidereal 
phenomena.  The  arrival  of  the  comet  which  figured  so 
conspicuously  in  our  horizon  in  the  autumn  of  1858,  was 
correctly  calculated  several  years  in  advance  by  nearly  all 
the  American  and  European  astronomers.  After  the  dis- 
covery of  the  law  of  universal  gravitation  had  provided 
the  key  to  unlock  \  the  door  of  astronomical  mystery, 
Halley  conceived  the  idea  that  all  comets  moved  in  obe- 
dience to  such  a  law ;  and  in  speculating  upon  that  of 
1682,  he  not  only  explained  phenomena  previously  noted 
by  Kepler  in  1601,  and  by  Apian  in  1651,  but  ventured 
to  predict  the  return  of  sthe  same  body  in  1758 — a  predic- 
tion fully  verified.  Its  reappearance  in  1835  had  been 
predicted  several  years  in  advance,  within  a  period  of  six 
days!  Considering  the  eccentric  movements,  and  the 
wide  intervals  of  time  between  the  arrival  and  departure 
of  comets,  the  accuracy  of  these  astronomical  calculations 


PRACTICAL   VALUE   OF   ASTRONOMICAL   SCIENCE.  29 

is  truly  wonderful.  But  there  is  nothing  in  nature  more 
regular  than  the  precession  of  the  equinoxes,  the  con- 
stantly changing  seasons,  or  the  daily  rising  and  setting 
of  the  sun.  The  everyday  operations  of  agriculture  are 
very  much  influenced  by  the  changes  in  the  temperature 
of  the  earth,  caused  by  the  solar  system  of  which  it  is  a 
member;  and  the  astronomical  calculations  usually  em- 
bodied in  the  Almanac  are  consequently  of  great  interest 
and  importance  to  husbandry.  But  Astronomy  subserves 
a  still  more  important  purpose  in  ocean  navigation,  where 
the  commerce  of  the  world  and  the  lives  of  thousands  cf 
individuals  are  constantly  exposed  to  the  dangers  of  the 
sea.  "  That  a  man,"  says  Sir  John  Herschell,  "  by  merely 
measuring  the  moon's  apparent  distance  from  a  star,  with 
a  little  portable  instrument  held  in  his  hand,  and  applied 
to  his  eye,  even  with  so  unstable  a  footing  as  the  deck  of 
a  ship,  shall  say  positively,  within  five  miles,  where  he  is 
on  a  boundless  ocean,  cannot  but  appear,  to  persons  ig- 
norant of  physical  astronomy,  an  approach  to  the  mir- 
aculous." 

But  one  of  the  most  beautiful  discoveries  of  the  present 
age,  was  that  of  the  planet  Neptune,  some  twelve  years 
ago.  For  many  years  after  the  discovery  of  Uranus, 
astronomers  were  perplexed  to  account  for  certain  varia- 
tions in  the  orbit  of  this  planet — the  calculations  of  old 
observations  not  agreeing  with  the  new  ones,  and  both 
alike  inconsistent  with  known  facts  in  reference  to  its 
orbitual  motions.  Some  accounted  for  the  discrepancy 
by  suggesting  the  influence  of  comets,  or  denying  the 
universality  of  the  law  of  gravitation  ;  but  Leverrier  and 
Bouvier  of  France,  and  Adams  of  England,  insisting  on 
the  law  of  the  mutual  dependence  of  planets  upon  each 
other,  suggested  the  existence  of  another  planet  beyond 
"Uranus.  Acting  on  this  theory,  these  gentlemen  entered 
into  the  most  complex  and  laborious  calculations,  to  find 


30  THE    FIRTT   DAY ASTRONOMICAL. 

out  the  position  which  this  unseen  disturber  of  Uranua 
occupied  in  the  firmament.  Leverrier  finished  his  calcu- 
lations, which  exhibited  a  longitude  for  the  planet  of  326° 
32',  a  mass  two  and  one-half  times  that  of  Uranus,  a 
distance  from  the  Sun  36,154  times  that  of  the  earth,  and 
a  periodic  revolution  in  217, 38T  years.  The  position, 
magnitude,  and  general  character  of  the  unknown  planet 
thus  defined,  Leverrier  transmitted  the  result  to  M.  Galle, 
of  the  Observatory  at  Berlin.  On  the  very  evening  that 
the  letter  came  to  hand,  Galle  turned  his  great  telescope 
in  the  direction  indicated,  and  startling  as  the  fact  may 
appear,  the  planet  was  detected  among  the  innumerable 
throng  of  the  glittering  stars,  within  fifty-two  seconds  of 
the  exact  spot  pointed  out  by  Leverrier.  Such  triumphs 
as  these  elevate  man  above  the  level  of  his  nature.  They 
exalt  him  above  the  fabled  gods  of  heathen  mythology. 
That  we  should  thus  explore  the  regions  of  space,  measure 
the  planets,  and  resolve  their  motions,  is  a  fact  which  the 
Almighty  author  himself  cannot  but  contemplate  with 
benignant  satisfaction  ! 

The  long-continued  observations  of  astronomers,  re- 
solved into  great  mathematical  and  geometrical  laws,  not 
only  establish  the  antiquity  of  the  earth  beyond  all  doubt 
or  cavil,  but  also  furnish  the  data  by  means  of  which  we 
can  form  a  satisfactory  estimate  as  to  the  origin  of  the  world 
itself.  The  most  probable  theory  to  account  for  the  pri- 
mary formation  of  worlds,  is  that  originally  suggested  by 
Herschell,  and  afterward  more  fully  elaborated  by  Laplace. 
It  has  been  called  the  Nebular  hypothesis.  Shortly  after 
Lord  Rosse  erected  his  gigantic  telescope,  and  resolved 
the  nebulae  in  the  constellation  of  Orion  into  clusters  of 
stars,  it  was  thought  by  some  that  the  theory  had  been 
much  impaired  ;  for  if  the  nebulae  could  be  resolved  into 
etars  in  one  instance,  there  would  seem  to  be  requisite 
only  sufficient  telescopic  power  to  resolve  all  such  aggre- 


NEBULOUS   ORIGIN   OF   THE   EARTH.  31 

gallons  in  space  into  similar  stellar  bodies.  This,  indeed, 
might  be  true,  and  yet  the  force  of  the  theory  would  not 
be  destroyed  ;  for  it  is  only  the  primary  condition  of  these 
bodies,  as  nebulae,  which .  the  theory  contemplates.  But 
although  the  nebulee  of  Orion  has  been  resolved,  there  are 
many  isolated  and  independent  aggregations  in  space, 
which  the  telescope  has  not  changed ;  and  these  can  be 
accounted  for  in  no  other  way  than  on  the  supposition  of 
their  having  been  thrown  off  from  the  primary  planets, 
if  not  directly  from  the  sun  himself.  These  aggregations 
or  swarms  of  floating  vapor  abound  everywhere  amid  the 
universal  space.  Their  elements,  whatever  they  comprise, 
must  be  different  from  the  surrounding  ether,  or  else 
unite  peculiar  chemical  compounds  of  the  upper  air. 
They  assume  every  imaginable  form,  and  appear  in  differ, 
ent  degrees  of  density — passing  from  a  mere  thin  film  into 
fleecy  atmospheres  encircling  central  stars,  like  those  of 
comets,  and  often  emerging  into  the  luminosity  of  actual 
stellar  groups,  as  in  the  case  of  Orion.  They  have  been 
thus  traced  in  every  form  of  condensation,  from  their 
primary  embryonic  condition  into  vast  suns  and  systems 
like  our  own.  It  was  owing  to  the  gradations  thus  ob- 
served, in  connection  with  other  considerations,  that  the 
idea  of  the  formation  of  worlds  was  suggested  to  the  mind 
of  Herschell.  Regarding  the  sun  as  the  primary  centre 
of  the  planetary  system,  it  is  inferred  that  he  threw  off,  at 
successive  periods,  while  undergoing  a  process  of  conden- 
sation, as  the  inevitable  result  of  a  rotary  motion,  all  the 
worlds  that  now  revolve  around  him,  including  our  own, 
as  well  as  all  the  moons  and  satellites  appertaining  to 
them.  The  sun,  therefore,  must  be  regarded  as  the  parent 
of  ail  the  stellar  bodies  comprising  our  solar  system.  This 
idea  derives  additional  support  from  various  collateral 
phenomena,  among  which  may  be  mentioned,  First:  The 
singular  and  significant  fact,  that  all  the 


32  THE   FIRST   DAY — ASTRONOMICAL. 

in  one  direction  only,  viz.,  from  west  to  east.     As  this 
is  the  direction  which  the  sun  himself  observes,  it  is  plain 
that  it  is  the  result  of  law — that  the  planets,  as  they  were 
thrown  off   from  his  outer    rim,  were    hurled    through 
space  in  the  direction  of  the  parent  body,  and,  while  they 
evinced  a  constant  tendency  to  return  home,  were  as  con- 
stantly repelled  by  his  superior  motion.     Second:  The 
planets  all  describe  circles,  with  but  slight  elliptic  devia- 
tions, and  this  form  is  due  to  their  primary  nebulosity 
exposed  to  a  rotary  motion.     A  drop  of  rain  or  a  piece 
of  molten   lead,   as   it  falls   through   space,   assumes,   a 
rounded  or  globular  shape  ;  and  so  these  incipient  worlds, 
as  they  were  cast  off  from  the  rim  of  the  parent  sun,  in 
the  form  of  attenuated  vapor,  took  the  form  which.,  char- 
acterizes the  earth,  whereupon  they  were  forever  con- 
signed to  the  positions  they  respectively  occupy,   and, 
once  brought  under  the  regular  and  undeviating  laws  of 
attraction  and  repulsion,  underwent  the  changes,  internal 
and  external,  which  have  resolved  them  into  the  physical 
properties  essential  to  the  universal  harmony.    Had  the  in- 
cipient worlds  thus  cast  off  not  assumed  the  globular  form, 
but  spread  out  as  mere  irregular  agglomerations  or  sheets  of 
vapor,  it  is  probable  that  they  might  have  been  again  ab- 
sorbed by  the  sun  ;  but  the  motion  which  they  all  inherited 
from  the  parent  body  was  sufficient  to  resolve  them  into 
globes,  just  as  sheets  of  water,  thrown  off  from  a  wheel 
in  rapid  motion,  will  part  into  thousands  of  independent 
but  minute  globes.     The  form  which  water  thus  assumes, 
is  as  much  due  to  a  natural  law  as  that  of  gravitation 
itself.     And  there  are  few  things  in  nature  more  interest- 
ing than  this  same  law  of  forms,  now  termed  Morphology. 
Every  thing  preserves  an  individuality  of  form  and  sjruc- 
ture,  from  a  grain  of  sand  on  the  sea-shore,  to  a  crystal 
of  quartz,  or  of  galena,  or  pyrites,  in  the  solid  rocks  ;  from 
the  flower  or  the  fruit  to  the  tree ;  from  an  insect  to  the 


LAW   OP  PLANETARY  DISTANCE   AND   DENSITY.  33 

soaring  eagle ;  from  the  inferior  animals  up  to  man,  and 
from  mankind  to  worlds — all  assume  forms  at  once  spe- 
cific and  peculiar  to  their  kinds.  Third :  It  will  be  ob- 
served, from  the  distances  of  the  planets  from  the  sun,  as 
previously  mentioned,  that  there  is  a  regular  or  nearly 
regular  increase,  from  one  to  the  other,  thus  going  to  show 
that  there  was  a  law  under  which  the  expulsion  of  the 
planets  from  the  primary  solar  nebulae  was  regulated  ; 
that,  in  fact,  they  were  not  thrown  off  by  mere  chance  or 
accident,  but  at  regular  intervals,  and  according  to  a  fixed 
and  previously  arranged  plan.  This  law  (concerning  the 
bearings  of  which  we  have  still  much  to  learn)  was  dis- 
covered by  the  celebrated  Bode,  and  is  expressed'by  say- 
ing "that  the  interval  between  the  orbits  of  any  two 
planets  is  about  twice  as  great  as  the  inferior  interval, 
and  only  half  the  superior  one."  Fourth:  Not  only  is 
there  a  fixed  order  in  the  relative  distances  of  the  planets 
from  the  sun,  and  from  each  other,  but  there  is  a  similar 
order  in  their  respective  times  of  revolution.  Thus,  Mer- 
cury, the  nearest  planet  to  the  sun,  revolves  around  him 
in  two  months  and  twenty-eight  days ;  Yenus,  in  seven 
months  and  fifteen  days ;  the  Earth,  in  one  year  and  six 
hours ;  Mars,  in  one  year,  ten  months,  and  twenty-one 
days ;  Vesta,  in  three  years,  seven  months,  and  twenty- 
one  days  ;  Juno,  Ceres,  and  Pallas,  in  four  years  and  some 
eight  months  each  ;  while  Jupiter  occupies  eleven  years, 
ten  months,  and  seventeen  days ;  Saturn,  twenty-nine 
years,  five  months,  and  twenty-four  days;  and  Uranus 
eighty-four  years  and  twenty-seven  days  !  Here,  it  will 
be  observed,  the  order  'of  time  is  strictly  in  correspondence 
with  that  of  distance,  and  we  thus  evolve  a  powerful  in- 
ference in  favor  of  the  primary  origin  of  all  these  bodies 
from  the  central  sun  around  which  they  revolve — begin- 
ning with  the  most  distant,  as  Uranus  and  Saturn,  and 
terminating  with  the  Earth,  Venus,  and  Mercury.  The 


34  THE   FIRST   DAY — ASTRONOMICAL. 

weight  of  these  orbs,  as  compared  with  an  equal  bulk  of 
water,  undergoes  a  change  somewhat  similar — dimin- 
ishes outward  from  the  sun.  Mercury  weighs  more  than 
seventeen  times  as  much  as  water ;  Yenus  more  than  five 
times  ;  the  Earth  more  than  four ;  Mars  more  than  three  ; 
Jupiter  more  than  one ;  while  that  of  Saturn  is  barely 
half  as  great.  Thus,  an  individual  who  weighs  one  hun- 
dred pounds. on  the  Earth,  if  removed  to  Mercury,  would 
weigh  nearly  four  hundred  pounds  ;  while,  if  transferred  to 
Saturn,  he  would  dwindle  down  to  fifty  pounds.  This 
law  is  accounted  for  in  the  superior  density  of  all  bodies 
toward  their  centre,  and  applies  equally  well  to  the 
Earth  itself  as  to  the  planets  in  general.  The  nearer  we 
approach  to  the  centre  of  the  Earth,  the  greater  becomes 
the  force  of  attraction  ;  and  it  is  precisely  thus  with  the 
planets  in  their  relation  to  the  sun.  The  weight  of  the 
waters  of  the  sea  is  such  that,  beyond  a  certain  ascertained 
depth,  the  minute  corals  and  mollusca  that  inhabit  it,  and 
fill  the  waters  with  their  comminuted  slime  and  chalk, 
cannot  live.  The  radiation  of  light  is  a  good  illustration 
of  the  law  which  graduates  the  density  of  planets.  To 
illustrate  :  let  the  letter  A  represent  a  light.  Let  B  repre- 
sent the  surface  upon  which  the  light  A  is  reflected,  which 
we  may  suppose  to  be  distant  one  hundred  feet ;  at  the 
distance  of  two  hundred  feet,  the  light  of  A  would  occupy 
at  G  four  times  the  surface  that  it  did  at  B,  but  would 
lose  correspondingly  in  density.  At  the  distance  of  three 
hundred  feet,  D,  the  light  of  A  would  cover  nine  times  the 
extent  of  surface  as  at  B,  but  with  still  diminished  density  ; 
while  at  E,  being  four  times  the  distance,  the  light  would 
expand  to  sixteen  times  its  original  area  ;  but  in  each  case 
its  density  would  decrease,  like  that  of  milk  diluted  with 
similar  proportions  of  water.  This  law  of  variation  ac- 
cording to  the  square  of  the  distance,  applies  equally  to 
all  physical  forces  which  are  capable  of  radiation  from  a 


THE  KNOWN  AND  THE  UNKNOWN.          35 

central  nucleus,  as  gravitation,  heat,  electricity,  magnet- 
ism, steam,  sound,  etc.,  etc. 

While  the  human  mind  may  imagine  the  origin  of 
worlds,  in  the  manner  here  suggested,  and  find  much  to 
support  the  hypothesis  in  the  known  and  familiar  laws  of 
nature  and  matter,  it  is  yet  utterly  incapable  or  proceeding 
further.  It  cannot  comprehend — it  cannot  conceive,  for  a 
single  moment,  how,  where,  or  when  the  great  Creator 
obtained  the  seemingly  varied  materials  with  which  he 
has  constructed  so  many  millions  of  radiant  worlds.  It 
cannot  conceive  any  plausible  explanation  of  forces,  even. 
Things  which  we  daily  see  and  feel,  as  light,  heat,  air, 
electricity — or  which  we  daily  handle,  as" gold,  silver,  iron, 
sulphur,  or  any  of  the  other  sixty-two  simple  elements  or 
substances  with  which  we  are  acquainted — nobody  can 
satisfactorily  explain  their  primary  origin,  or  trace  them 
back  to  the  laboratory  whence  they  were  evolved.  We 
see  them — observe  their  effects — and  perceive  that  they 
all  work  agreeably  to  law.  We  thus  detect  a  primary 
cause — a  Creator  who  acts  by  a  plan.  We  see  him  in  all 
things — from  the  minute  atom  or  particle  to  stupendous 
globes  ; — yet  we  cannot  even  imagine  his  vital  or  personal 
embodiment,  much  less  can  we  imagine  his  origin.  All 
these  are  points,  the  solution  of  which  can  only  be  deter- 
mined by  God  himself; — they  are  not  for  man.  It  is 
enough  for  us  to  know  that  worlds  exist  within  worlds  ; 
that  whole  systems  and  universes  revolve  in  space,  so 
far  distant  from  our  own  that  no  conception  can  be  formed 
of  the  intervening  space  ;  and  yet,  all  that  we  can  see  or 
learn  concerning  them,  shows  that  there  is  universal  law, 
order,  and  harmony  among  them  all. 

Now,  supposing  the  planets  of  our  system  (twenty-two 
in  number,  with  perhaps  an  equal  number  of  satellites  or 
moons,)  to  have  primarily  belonged  to  the  sun  around 
which  they  revolve,  and  to  have  been  successively  throwD 


36  THE  FIRST   DAY — ASTRONOMICAL. 

off  in  the  manner  indicated ;  we  may  assume  that  the  sun 
previously  stood  in  the  relation  to  the  other  systems  that 
these  planets  now  occupy  to  him.  In  the  beginning, 
therefore,  the  elements  now  comprising  many  globes, 
comprised  but  one.  There  was  absolute  unity,  the  em- 
bodiment o^  which  was  the  Creator  himself.  In  him  all 
things  centred,  and  upon  the  exercise  of  his  volition,  all 
things  sprang  or  irradiated, — each  particle  of  matter,  or 
force,  or  principle,  being  clothed  with  powers  for  combi- 
nation, affinity,  and  relation  to  other  particles,  in  the  union 
of  which  life  was  inclosed  as  in  the  seeds  of  fruit.  After 
the  planets  had  been  thus  irradiated,  they  were  kept  in 
place  by  an  inherent  propensity  to  return  back  into  unity 
• — a  propensity  which  may  be  termed  the  law  of  gravita- 
tion. But,  in  consequence  of  the  superior  velocity  of  the 
primary  sun  around  which  they  revolve,  and  the  varied 
relations  which  they  respectively  owe  to  each  other,  there 
is  no  possibility  of  their  fusion,  and  hence,  the  two 
opposing  forces  of  attractive  gravitation  and  diffusive  re- 
pulsion, merely  serve  to  keep  them  in  constant  motion 
around  the  primary  source. 

As  to  the  earth  itself:  When  we  reflect  how  easily, 
by  the  mere  change  of  temperature,  water  is  converted 
into  ice,  or  dissipated  into  steamy  vapor — how  copper, 
lead,  or  any  other  mineral  or  rock,  may  be  made  to  bubble 
and  boil  in  liquid  fire  at  our  feet,  there  is  little  real  diffi- 
culty in  the  way  of  tracing  the  earth,  according  to  the 
nebular  hypothesis,  throughout  all  the  stages  of  a  gaseous, 
a  liquiform,  and  thence  into  that  more  dense,  compact,  and 
solid  condition  preceding  the  great  purposes  it  was  to 
subserve  in  the  almighty  design.  The  combination  of 
oxygen  with  hydrogen,  in  certain  equivalents,  produces 
water;  the  compounds  of  carbon  with  both,  form  the 
great  bulk  of  all  vegetation  and  animal  substances. 
These  and  other  chemical  compounds,  comprise  the  solid 


WORLDS   WITHIN   WORLDS.  3f 

body  of  the  earth,  and  of  the  atmosphere  around  it ;  and 
hence,  its  origin  from  the  nebulous  elements  abounding  in 
universal  space,  is  merely  a  chemical  phenomena,  so  far 
as  its  aggregate  particles  have  been  formed  and  attracted 
to  each  other.  If  the  embryo  foetus  of  animals  be  instinct 
with  the  vitality  that  is  to  bear  them  onward  through  the 
various  stages  of  birth,  of  youthful  development,  and 
mature  age ;  it  may  likewise  be  assumed  that  these 
nebulous  bodies  inherit  primarily  the  light,  or  heat,  or 
vital  principle  necessary  for  their  subsequent  develop- 
ment into  planets,  and  for  the  discharge  of  all  those  func- 
tions in  the  future,  which  t"he  unchanging  laws  of  the 
universe  impose.  And  the  same  law  that  originates  and 
sustains  organic  life,  and  causes  earthly  and  mineral  atoms 
to  cohere,  has  formed  the  world — for  these  are  in  fact  but 
the  great  aggregate  compounds  of  innumerable  and  inde- 
pendent atoms.  A  drop  of  water  suspended  from  a 
trembling  leaf,  is  as  much,  as  completely  a  world  to  the 
animalculae  that  inhabit  it,  as  our  world  is  to  us ; — and 
very  likely  the  phenomena  outside  and  around  them, 
appear  to  their  microscopic  vision  as  stupendous,  and 
wonderful  as  the  other  worlds  that  are  suspended  around 
us.  The  air,  the  ocean,  and  the  earth,  teem  with  minute 
worlds,  inhabited  by  creatures  so  inestimably  small  that 
the  highest  powers  of  the  microscope  are  often  insufficient 
to  reveal  them,  and  yet  our  world  is  nothing  but  the  com- 
bined aggregate  of  the  whole,  as  the  great  universe  itself 
is  but  the  aggregate  of  millions  upon  millions  of  other 
worlds,  many  of  them  far  exceeding  the  dimensions  of  our 
own. 

As  to  the  formation  of  the  earth  :  if  Moses,  inspired  by 
prophecy,  could  penetrate  the  narrow  vistas  of  the  future, 
there  is  every  reason  to  infer  that  the  past  was  not  beyond 
the  reach  of  his  mental  vision  ;  but  that,  like 


38  THE   FIRST   DAY — ASTRONOMICAL. 

"Caethus,  the  seer,  his  comprehensive  view 
The  Past,  the  Present,  and  the  Future  knew." 

In  ancient  times  the  seers  and  soothsayers  comprised  a 
numerous,  if  not  always  a  somewhat  influential  class ; 
and  thougl^  they  did  not  invariably  pretend  to  divine  in- 
spiration, they  yet  often  directed  the  most  important 
movements  of  armies  and  of  states.  The  oracles  of 
Greece  were  the  most  potent  institutions  of  the  confedera- 
tion ;  and  that  of  Delphi  was  endowed  with  the  richest 
spoils  of  victory,  and  the  most  magnificent  offerings  of 
kings  and  states.  As  it  would  seem  to  be  perfectly  con- 
sistent with  the  whole  theory  and  practice  of  prophecy, 
we  have  a  right  to  suppose  that  the  description  he  gives 
of  the  creation  was  revealed  to  Moses  in  a  series  of  Ideal 
Tableaux,  corresponding  to  the  six  calendar  days  or  cos- 
mogonal  eras.  These  tableaux  or  pictures  would,  of 
course,  delineate  only  the  more  prominent  features  of  each 
day  or  formation,  leaving  the  subordinate  incidents,  or 
details  in  the  background  of  Time. 

When  Moses,  therefore,  lifting  the  vail  that  revealed  the 
iinshaped  embryo  of  the  world,  declares  that  "  in  the  be- 
ginning God  created  the  heaven  and  the  earth,  and  that 
the  earth  was  without  form,  and  void,  and  darkness  was 
on  the  face  of  the  deep,"  he  simply  describes  a  phenome- 
non which  the  nebular  theory  reclaims  from  mysterious 
obscurity.  "  He  created  the  heaven  and  the  earth  ;"  that 
is  to  say,  he  created  the  substances  of  which  the  heaven 
and  the  earth  are  composed  :  for  if  any  thing  more  or  be- 
yond the  embryo  was  created  "in  the  beginning,"  there 
would  .obviously  have  been  no  occasion  for  the  subsequent 
six  days'  creation,  during  which  the  earth  was  being 
gradually  developed  for  its  future  purposes.  The  heaven 
was  first  in  the  order  of  time,  and  it  was  only  the  earth  that 
was  without  form  at  the  era  which  Moses  describes— the 


THE   EARTH   IMPREGNATED    WITH   LIFE.  39 

heaven  having  evidently  been  complete.  From  this  the 
substance  of  the  earth  was  derived,  and  impregnated  with 
the  creative  vitality — for  "  the  spirit  of  God  now  moved 
upon  the  face  of  the  waters;"  or,  in  other  words,  God 
moved  the  waters,  or  caused  motion  to  exist  on  the  face 
of  them,  or  throughout  the  entire  body  of  the  elemental 
mass.  We  must  here  bear  in  mind  that  words  often  lose 
their  original  meaning.  While  it  is  natural  for  us-  to  sup- 
pose that  the  spirit  of  God  moved  like  a  spectre  on  the 
face  or  the  surface  of  the  waters,  the  truth  is  that  the 
wor*d  face  was  formerly  equivalent  to  our  word  through- 
out, and  therefore  implies  that  the  spirit,  moving  as  it 
did,  communicated  to  the  waters,  or  the  half-liquid  nebula, 
the  force  and  strength  and  animation  of  his  volition.  In 
brief,  the  .embryo  earth  thus  became  a  living  foatus  in  the 
womb  of  the  Universe,  and  had  now  entered  the  period 
of  gestation. 

"And  God  said,  Let  there  be  light;  and  there  was 
light ;  and  seeing  that  it  was  good,  divided  the  light  from 
the  darkness."  It  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  light  is  not 
only  reflected  from  nebulous  bodies,  but  that,  in  conse- 
quence of  its  solar  derivation,  it  forms  an  inherent  con- 
stituent of  their  composition  ;  hence,  on  attaining  a  certain 
degree  of  density,  they  are  resolved  into  luminous  globes. 
It  was  thus  with  the  earth.  Light,  or  rather  heat,  emerg- 
ing from  the  elements  thus  chemically  combined,  was 
separated  from  the  original  gloom.  It  was  not,  perhaps, 
the  flaming  light  which  results  from  the  combustion  of 
gases,  but  rather  the  radiated  heat  of  molten  or  liquid 
matter — such  as  is  reflected  from  incandescent  bodies,  or 
such  as  now  comprises  the  liquid  atmosphere  of  the  sun. 
The  solar  atmosphere  which  surrounds  our  earth  had  no 
existence  upon  it  at  that  time — the  heat  having  been 
confined  to  the  centre  while  the  opaque  exterior  was  un- 
dergoing refrigeration.  Consequently,  there  could  have 


40  THE   FIRST   DAY — ASTRONOMICAL. 

been  no  such  day  as  ours,  and  for  the  sufficient  reason 
that  the  world  had  not  yet  come  under  the  direct  and 
equable  influence  of  the  sun,  but  existed  for  an  indefinite 
period  as  an  incipient  or  embryo  nebulous  planet, 

"Let  there  be  light/'  said  God;  and  forthwith  light 
Ethereal,  first  of  things,  quintessence  pure, 
Sprang  from  the  deep,  and  from  her  native  East 
To  journey  through  the  airy  gloom  began, 
Sphered  in  a  radiant  cloud — for  yet  the  sun 
Was  not; — she  in  a  cloudy  tabernacle 
Sojourned  the  -while.     God  saw  the  light  was  good, 
And  light  from  darkness  by  the  hemisphere 
Divided — light  the  day,  and  darkness  night, 
He  named.    This  was  the  first  day,  even  and  morn." 

Milton. 


THE  SECOND  DAY— ASTRONOMICAL. 

6  And  God  said,  Let  there  be  a  firmament  in  the  midst  of  the  waters, 
and  let  it  divide  the  waters  from  the  waters.  7  And  God  made  the  firma- 
ment, and  divided^he  waters  which  were  under  the  firmament  from  the 
waters  which  were  above  the  firmament;  and  it  was  so.  8  And  God 
called  the  firmament  heaven.  And  the  evening  and  the  morning  were 
the  second  day. 

THE  earth  which  we  inhabit  occupies  a  position  in  that 
broad  belt  stretching  over  the  firmament  which,  from  its 
nebulous  aspect,  has  been  termed  the  Milky  Way.  Al- 
though this  zone  is  studded  with  millions  of  worlds,  many 
of  them  immensely  larger  than  our  own,  its  prevailing 
aspect,  as  indicated  by  the  name,  is  that  of  nebulosity ; 
and  in  connection  with  the  supposed  primary  origin  of 
our  globe,  this  fact  betrays  a  great  deal  of  significance. 
From  unshapen  nebulosity,  the  earth  passed  into  a  fluid 
condition,  having  its  inherent  heat  in  the  centre,  as  the 
axis.  The  earth  is  therefore  described  by  Moses  as  a 
fluid — as  a  vast  globe  of  water ;  and  such,  in  fact,  it  was, 
and  is  even  now.  While  water  itself^in^the  form  of  seas 
and  rivers,  occupies. more  than  three-fourths  of  the  actual 
surface  of  the  earth,  its  elements,  in  the  form  of  hydrogen 
and  oxygen,  mainly  fill  the  air.  Its  presence  in  organic 
life  is  equally  as  great  as  in  inorganic  substances.  A 
man,  for  example,  who  weighs  154  pounds,  is  made  up 
of  116  pounds  of  water— leaving  but  38  pounds  of  dry 
matter ;  while  in  lower  animals  the  quantity  of  water  is 
still  comparatively  greater.  Some  aqueous  animals,  in- 

(41) 


42  THE   SECOND   DAY — ASTKO-GEOLOGICAL. 

deed,  contain  99  per  cent,  of  water  in  their  solid  compo- 
sition. The  original  fluidity  of  the  earth,  therefore,  as  here 
described  by  Moses,  is  one  of  those  singular  and  extraordi- 
nary facts  which,  although  little  suspected  by  the  popular 
mind,  is  incontestibly  established  by  the  testimony  of 
nature. 

When  the  phenomena  of  the  second  day  were  revealing 
themselves  to  the  mental  vision  of  Moses,  the  young  or 
embryo  earth  had  already  surrounded  its  interior  heat  by 
a  wall  of  sub-aqueous  granite— that  is,  while  the  exterior 
surface  was  a  boiling  sea,  the  interior' heat  was  surrounded 
like  the  shell  of  an  egg,  by  an  earthy  precipitate  congeal- 
ing into  crystalline  rock.  This  was  the  immediate  result 
of  calorific  sublimation,  as  opposed  to  the  external  ten- 
dency to  refrigeration.  The  pores  of  the  rocky  shell, 
however,  were  easily  penetrated  by  the  overlying  water, 
while  they  also  served  as  conduits  of  the  interior  heat.  The 
carbon  (of  the  heat)  thus  operated  as  a  liberator  of  the 
oxygen  of  the  water,  and  upon  its  partial  decomposition, 
or  rather  its  evaporation,  the  volatile  gases  were  dispelled 
into  the  surrounding  atmosphere.  Water  thus  decom- 
posed would  leave  behind  its  earthy  precipitates,  and 
evolve  iron,  sulphur,  alumina,  lime,  or  whatever  solids 
remained  in  the  rocks  thus  accumulating.  In  the  mean 
time,  the  steamy  evaporation  compelled  the  gases  to  form 
new  combinations  with  the  ether  (a  substance  believed  to 
exist,  but  of  unkn%wn«qualities),  and  nothing  could  have 
been  more  natural  than  for  these  (especially  in  view  of  the 
lightness  of  hydrogen)  to  arrange  themselves  into  an 
arching  vault  over  the  vast  plain  of  boiling  water  beneath 
— or  rather,  the  vast  concave  surface  of  boiling  oc,eans. 
Constantly  and  regularly  widening,  with  the  increased 
evaporation  or  liberation  of  the  aqueous  mass  below,  it 
was  finally  transformed  into  that  magnificent  ethereal 
dome,  strung  with  myriads  of  glittering  jewels,  which  we 


THE   FIRMAMENT — WHAT   IS  IT  ?  43 

see  suspended  over  us,  and  which,  in  fact,  merely  adapts 
itself,  as  Moses  implies,  to  the  convex  surface  of  the  earth. 
And  here,  again,  we  have  another  beautiful  illustration 
of  the  divine  origin  of  the  Mosaic  revelation.  The 
ancients  almost  universally  regarded  the  firmament  as  a 
solid  crystalline  body,  to  which  the  stars  were  attached  as 
if  by  metallic  rivets.  At  the  same  time  the  surface  of  the 
earth  was  very  generally  regarded  as  a  level  plain.  In- 
deed, the  Church  of  Rome,  at  one  period,  made  it  heresy 
to  doubt  this  proposition,  with  others  equally  absurd. 
But  long  anterior  to  this,  and  in  the  face  of  all  the  acade- 
micians and  philosophers  of  his  own  and  subsequent  ages, 
Moses  enunciated  a  cosmogony  utterly  at  variance  with 
the  old  philosophy,  and  the  truth  of  which  seems  to  have 
been  reserved  for  the  Telescope,  and  other  modern  appli- 
ances, fully  to  establish.  Now,  in  the  original  Greek, 
biased  by  the  then  prevailing  speculations,  the  word  firma- 
ment here  used  is  translated  to  signify  a  concave  with  a 
solid  base ;  but  it  appears  that,  on  referring  to  the  original 
Hebrew  text,  it  is  found  strictly  to  imply  a  vast  space 
without  limitation!  Even  the  great  Kepler  at  onetime 
regarded  the  earth  as  a  stupendous  animal,  who,  breath- 
ing in  and  spouting  out  the  waters  of  the  ocean  like  a 
whale,  occasioned  the  ebbing  and  flowing  of  the  tides  I 
Yet,  here  we  find  Moses,  several  thousand  years  in  ad- 
vance, calmly  and  briefly  detailing  the  cosmogony  of  the 
earth,  and  its  varied  creation,  according  to  the  concen- 
trated and  constantly  accruing  facts  of  six  thousand  years ! 
He  was,  in  fact,  not  only  in  advance  of  his  own  age,  the 
age  of  Egypt  in  its  highest  power  and  glory ;  but  he  was 
in  advance  of  Greece,  by  whom  he  was  translated,  in  its 
highest  power  and  glory ;  and  he  remains  still  in  advance 
— far  in  advance  of  modem  Science,  and  of  an  age  unex- 
ampled in  wisdom  and  intelligence  !  But,  unlike  preceding 
ages,  the  discoveries  of  modern  times  tend  to  the  con- 


44  THE   SECOND   DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. 

firmation  of  his  cosmogony ;  and  every  progressive  step 
— every  fresh  incursion  into  the  mysterious  domain  of 
Nature,  only  establishes  the  sublimity  and  depth  of  his 
penetration,  and  the  absolute  purity  and  extent  of  his 
inspiration. 

But  the  process  of  evaporating  or  separating  the  waters 
was  by  no  means  a  slow  or  tame  one.  It  was  accelerated 
by  the  most  terrific  volcanic  action,  the  necessary  prelude 
to  the  gigantic  object  to  be  attained.  In  anticipation  of 
the  birth  of  animated  nature,  with  which  the  young  -earth 
was  now  pregnant,  and  in  view  of  the  great  events  to 
occur  in  the  succeeding  days,  there  crept  beneath  those 
vapor-enveloped  seas  a  dull,  complaining,  and  rumbling 
sound — faint  and  half-suppressed  at  first  by  the  hissing 
waters,  but  rising  anon  in  might  and  strength,  like  con- 
tending armies  of  defiant  thunderbolts,  whose  glittering 
sabres  throw  off  the  vivid  lightning's  flash.  Then  fol- 
lowed fast,  and  then  faster  still,  the  stifling,  choking 
volcano,  every  new  explosion  vomiting  up  lurid  smoke, 
and  scalding  steam,  and  fantastic  clouds  of  glaring  fire  1 
The  earth  shuddered !  Its  seas  roll  up  in  savage  tem- 
pest-tossed billows ;  its  submarine  floors  of  granite  break 
in  deep  and  lengthened  gulfs,  while  the  elemental  warfare 
still  continues  with  redoubled  strife  within  its  cavernous 
bowels.  Around — above — beneath — all  was  now  one 
grand,  seething,  hissing,  roaring,  eruptive  caldron  I  No 
animal — no  living  creature  was  on  the  earth.  No  fish 
was  in  the  sea.  No  bird  spread  his  soaring  pinions  in  the 
air!  No  flowers  bloomed.  No  trees  waved  their  spread- 
ing foliage  to  the  breeze ; — but,  amid  the  dusky  atmosphere 
of  poison — amid  the  detonations  of  hydrous  oxygen,  the 
stifling  fumes  of  sulphur,  the  mephitic  vapors  of  azote,  and 
the  scorching  avalanches  of  porphyritic  soot,  the  young 
Earth  groaned  in  labor,  and  at  every  convulsive  throe, 


THE   BIRTH   OP   ANIMATED   NATURE.  45 

fragments  of  molten  rock,  huge  as  high  Olympus,  fell  in 
fiery  tempests  on  her  heaving  breast  1 

Such  were  the  extraordinary  convulsions  which  char- 
acterized the  second,  and  aided  the  operations  of  the  third 
day.  Toward  the  evening,  when  the  waters  began  to 
withdraw  like  the  ebbing  of  the  tide,  vast  regions  of  sub- 
merged lands  struggled  with  the  shallow  surfs  to  escape 
the  dominion  of  the  sea.  The  rocks  thus  emerging  com- 
prise the  most  extensive  and  wide-spread  groups  in  the 
stratification  of  the  earth,  forming,  as  they  now  do,  the 
central  nucleus  of  the  most  elevated  mountain  chains  that 
distinguish  its  surface,  and  the  solid  basis  upon  which  all 
the  others  rest.  They  are  the  family  of  granites,  and  the 
immediate  progenitors  of  the  volcanic  rocks  that  resulted 
from  the  disturbance  of  the  primary  shell  surrounding  the 
interior  heat. 

There  is  scarcely  a  district  in  Europe,  Asia,  or  Africa, 
in  which  these  rocks  do  not  exist — though  the  more  recent 
groups  are  often  deposited  over  them  in  irregular  patches. 
In  America  they  constitute  at  least  three-fourths  of  the 
surface,  covering  the  greater  portion  of  Canada  and 
Russian  America,  and  stretching  in  an  uninterrupted 
belt  along  the  Pacific  Ocean,  from  South  America  to 
California,  Oregon,  and  Behring's  Straits.  In  the  United 
States  an  irregular,  though  continuous  belt  of  igneous 
rocks  extends  along  the  Atlantic  slope,  from  Maine  to 
Georgia  ;  on  the  one  side,  running  parallel  with  the  Ter- 
tiary, which  dips  into  the  ocean,  and  on  the  other  with  a 
group  of  the  New  Red  Sandstone,  lying  to  the  north- 
west. They  also  cover  a  large  surface  in  Minnesota, 
Wisconsin,  and  the  upper  peninsula  of  Michigan ;  while 
they  occupy  nearly  the  whole  extent  of  the  Rocky 
Mountain  country. 

As  these  are  the  lowest  rocks  yet  discovered  in  the 
earth,  and  the  most  widely  distributed,  there  can  be  no 


46  THE   SECOND   DAY — ASTRO- GEOLOGICAL. 

question  whatever  as  to  their  being  also  the  oldest. 
Granite  itself  is  composed  of  mica,  quartz,  and  felspar— 
the  latter  predominating.  Being  crystalline  and  unstrati- 
fied,  it  bears  equal  pressure  in  every  position,  and  hence 
is  largely  employed  in  architecture. 

The  rocks  comprising  thj  inclosing  circle  of  the  interior 
heat,  are  usually  termed  Plutonic,  to  distinguish  them 
from  those  immediately  subsequent,  which  are  volcanic. 
The  two  combined  are  termed  igneous  rocks,  and  are 
*  thus  distinguished  from  the  metamorphie.  The  Plutonic 
include  granite,  syenite,  and  eurite  ;  the  volcanic — which 
are  the  others  differently  amalgamated  by  fusion — are 
basalt,  greenstone,  claystone,  porphyry,  amygdaloid,  and 
lava.  Now,  when  the  interior  heat  burst  through  the 
rind  of  granite,  thousands  of  great  streams  of  lava  were 
discharged,  in  various  quarters  of  the  earth,  from  sub- 
marine volcanic  craters.  The  fragments  of  rock  were 
ground  and  shattered  into  pebbles  and  sand,  in  their 
upward  passage,  and  their  particles  uniting  with  the 
liquid  lava,  spread  over  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  the  agita- 
tion and  pressure  of  the  water  often  giving  them  a  wavy, 
irregular,  and  contorted  structure.  The  ultimate  effect  of 
this  universal  and  stupendous  volcanic  action  (converting 
gases  into  liquids,  and  liquids  into  solids)  was  to  bring 
from  the  watery  waste  a  series  of  island  reefs,  united 
together  by  a  reticulated  chain  of  narrow  peninsulas, 
stretching  around  expansive  lakes,  rivers,  and  basins,  far 
into  the  ocean.  These  islands  subsequently  become 
continents. 

Although  basalt,  greenstone,  claystone,  porphyry,  amyg- 
daloid, and  lava,  are  the  general  names  of  the  volcanic 
group,  the  various  subsequent  combinations  of  their  par- 
ticles by  sublimation,  have  produced  a  large  family  of 
other  rocks,  bearing  specific  names.  For  instance,  clink- 
stone belongs  to  the  group,  being  a  combination  of  felspa. 


THE   PRIMARY   AND   VOLCANIC   ROCKS.  4t 

and  quartz,  and  so  named  because  of  its  ringing  sound 
under  the  hammer.  Trachyte  and  basalt  often  pass  into 
clinkstone,  by  very  gradual  transitions.  Diallage  is 
synonymous  with  euphotide  and  gabbro,  and  is  made  up 
of  euphotide  and  felspar,  with  occasional  infusions  of  ser- 
pentine, mica,  and  quartz.  Dolerite  is  merely  another  and 
a  better  name  for  greenstone  (since  it  is  not  always  re- 
cognized by  color)  and  includes  black  augite,  or  hornblende 
and  felspar,  or  augite,  felspar  and  magnetic  iron.  Felspar 
forms  an  important  ingredient  in  a  'great  number  of  rocks. 
It  is  the  base  of  felspar-porphyry,  which  contains  crystals 
of  felspar  and  quartz.  Hornblende  is  composed  mainly  of 
black  augite  and  iron,  often  mixed  or  imbedded  in  felspar. 
Hornstone  is  a  species  of  flint,  and  only  differs  from  com- 
pact felspar  in  its  action  before  the  blow-pipe.  Obsidian  is 
another  name  for  lava.  It  is  vitreous,  and  resembles  the 
fracture  of  glass.  Ophite  is  composed  of  hornblende  and 
ielspar,  and  becomes  serpentine  T)y  the  addition  of  talc. 
Pearlstone  is  somewhat  similar  to  obsidian,  and  is  thus 
named  from  its  pearly  lustre.  Pitchstone  is  another  name 
for  volcanic  lava,  and  is  so  called  from  its  resinous  lustre. 
Porphyry  is  a  stone  abounding  in  large  isolated  crystals 
of  felspar.  Pumice  is  a  spongy  trachyte.  Scoriae  is 
volcanic  cinder.  Serpentine  is  a  green  rock,  abounding 
in  magnesia.  Noble  serpentine  is  a  transparent  mineral, 
sometimes  affording  gems.  Syenitic  greenstone  is  com- 
posed of  felspar  and  hornblende.  Trachyte  is  glassy 
felspar.  Amygdaloid  is  so  called  from  its  cellular  struc- 
ture, the  cavities  of  which  are  in  the  ^ape  of  almonds. 
In  Lake  Superior  these  cavities  are  often  filled  with 
chlorite,  and  sometimes  with  copper. 

Besides  the  six  or  seven  principal  varieties  of  the  vol- 
canic rorks,  it  will  thus  be  perceived  that  there  are  a 
great  number   of  subordinate   members   of   the   family. 
These,  however,  only  differ  from  the  others  in  the  propor- 
4 


48  THE   SECOND   DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. 

tions  with  which  the  original  ingredients  are  united 
And  chemical  analysis  shows  that  the  leading  elements  in 
all  of  them  were  silica,  alumina,  and  magnesia — there 
being  comparatively  but  a  trace  of  lime,  potash,  and  man- 
ganese. Many  of  them,  however,  had  a  large  content  of 
oxyd  of  iron,  as,  for  instance,  augite,  chlorite,  diallage, 
epidote,  hornblende,  hypersthene,  mica,  olivine,  etc. 

It  may  be  suggested  that  because  these  rocks  had  not 
yet  assumed  the  superficial  characteristics  of  continents, 
they  do  not  properly  belong  to  the  second  day.  But  if 
they  formed  vast  oceanic  reefs,  or  incipient  islands,  it  was 
sufficient,  for  Moses  did  not  command  the  dry  land  to 
appear  until  the  third  day.  In  using  the  word  dry  land, 
he  leaves  us  to  infer  the  previous  existence  of  rocky  reefs 
and  sub-marine  continents ;  and  because  they  did  not  rise 
up  in  tall  cliffs,  is  no  reason  that  they  did  not  exist  as 
rocks,  or  that  they  do  not  belong  to  this  g'eological  era. 
As  well,  indeed,  might*  the  alluvial  silt  of  submerged 
river  estuaries  be  ranked  with  the  primitive  rocks  upon 
which  it  lays,  as  for  those  rocks  to  be  included  with  more 
recent  formations. 

Again  God  said :  Let  there  bo  firmament 

Amid  the  waters,  and  let  it  divide 

The  waters  from  the  waters ;  and  God  made 

The  firmament,  expanse  of  liquid  pure, 

Transparent,  elemental  air,  diffused 

In  circuit  to  the  uttermost  convex 

Of  this  great  sound;  partition  firm  and  sure, 

The  waters  underneath  from  those  above 

DividUg;  for  as  earth,  so  he  the  world 

Built  on  circumfluous  waters  calm,  in  wide 

Crystalline  ocean,  and  the  loud  misrule 

Of  Chaos  far  removed,  lest  fierce  extremes 

Contiguous  might  distemper  the  whole  frame  : 

And  heaven  he  named  the  firmament:  so  even 

And  morning  chorus  sung  the  second  day. — Milton. 


COAL  AND  MINERAL  COMBUSTIBLES. 


THE  THIRD  DAY— GEOLOGICAL. 

9  And  God  said,  Let  the  waters  under  the  heaven  be  gathered  together 
unto  one  place,  and  let  the  dry  land  appear :  and  it  was  so.  10  And  God 
called  the  dry  land  Earth;  and  the  gathering  together  of  the  waters 
called  he  Seas:  and  God  saw  that  it  was  good.  11  And  God  said,  Let 
the  earth  bring  forth  grass,  the  herb  yielding  seed,  and  the  fruit-tree 
yielding  fruit  after  his  kind,  whose  seed  is  in  itself,  upon  the  earth :  and 
it  was  so.  12  And  the  earth  brought  forth  grass,  and  herb  yielding  seed 
after  his  kind,  and  the  tree  yielding  fruit,  whose  seed  was  in  itself,  after 
his  kind :  and  God  saw  that  it  was  good.  13  And  the  evening  and  the 
inorning  were  the  third  day. 

WHEN  Moses  lifted  the  vail  which  revealed  the  picture 
of  the  Third  Day,  he  saw  the  waters  receding  from  the 
effects  of  the  recent  violent  convulsions ;  and  as  they 
withdrew,  the  land  gradually  emerged,  and  appeared  con- 
spicuously in  the  scene.  The  command  for  the  dry  land 
to  appear  was  based  upon  the  capability  its  structure  now 
possessed  for  drainage,  and  was  only  the  necessary  pre- 
liminary for  that  following,  "  for  the  earth  or  dry  land  to 
bring  forth  grass,  and  herb,  and  fruit." 

After  the  land  had  thus  emerged  from  the  primitive 
seas,  another  group  of  strata  was  immediately  commenced. 
This  is  called  the  Metamorphic,  because  the  lithological 
nature  of  the  rocks  has  been  changed  from  an  ordinary 
sedimentary  to  a  crystalline,  a  compact  granular,  or 
fibrous  structure.  Beds  of  limestone  were  converted  into 
white  statuary  marble,  and  particles  of  felspar  and  mica, 
or  quartz  and  mica,  united  to  form  compact  gneiss.  The 

(49) 


50  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

heated  and  agitated  waters  sweeping  around,  and  per- 
meating the  long  narrow  islands  and  reefs,  wore  off  their 
jagged  edges  and  incoherent  fragments,  and  carried  away 
their  comminuted    debris  into  the  adjacent  seas,  lakes, 
rivers,  and  basins,  where  they  were  spread  out  in  thin 
Iamina3,  or  rolled  into  contorted  heaps  by  the  motion  of 
the  water  and  the  reciprocal  vibration  of  the  floor  beneath. 
It  was  thus  that  the  extensive  layers  of  gneiss,  hornblende, 
mica  slate,  talcose  slate,  and  clay  slate  were  deposited. 
Their  position  to  the  previous  rocks  is  unconformable,  but 
it  is  nevertheless  easy  to  pass  from  them  to  the  volcanic, 
and  thence  to  the  primitive  rocks  below.     An  illustration 
presents  itself  all  along  the  zone  of  primitive  rocks,  pre- 
viously referred  to  as  extending  parallel  with  the  Atlantic 
coast,  where  most  of  them  are  adjacent  and  lead  to  the 
volcanic,  and  thence  to  those  of  the  metamorphic  varieties. 
This  is  owing  to  the  fact  that  granite  and  the  volcanic 
rocks  formed  the  original  reefs  and  islands,  and  hence 
now  often  appear  on  the  summits  of  mountains,  while  the 
metamorphic   occupy  the    slopes   or  the   valleys   below. 
These  valleys,  at  the  time  of  their  deposition,  were  filled 
with  water,  and  the  debris  from  the   islands  gradually 
settled  at  the  bottom.     Now,  although  these  rocks  were 
elevated  and  changed  by  heal,  it  was  not  by  means  of 
direct  volcanic  eruptions,  as  in  the  previous  case.     It  was 
by  the  more  gradual  expansion  of  the  interior  heat,  the 
effects  of  which  were  felt  at  the  weakest  parts.     This, 
owing  to  the  pressure  of  the  water,  now  that  it  had 
gradually  collected  into  a  great  body,  would  be  ir   the 
vicinity  of  the  islands ;   and  hence,  while  the  heat  was 
constantly  baking  and  solidifying  the  soft  "mud  in   the 
lakes  and  basins,  the  islands  and  the  basins  themselves 
were  gradually  rising,  higher  and  higher,  from  the  water. 
In  process  of  time,  the  water  was  entirely  withdrawn ; 
the  vast  regions  of  dry  land  were  redeemed,  and  the  earth 


THE   METAMORPHIC   ROCKS.  51 

was  fully  prepared,  agreeably  to  the  Divine  command,  to 
"bring  forth  grass,  and  herb,  and  fruit  after  his  kind." 
And  it  may  be  added,  that  the  silt  thus  exposed  furnished 
a  prolific  soil  for  this  purpose,  containing,  as  it  did,  all  the 
ingredients  which  the  farmer,  by  the  application  of 
manures,  now  infuses  into  his  soil. 

After  the  deposition  of  the  metarnorphic  rocks  (for- 
merly called  the  Transition),  the  earth  seems  to  have 
generated  or  discharged  a  large  amount  of  carbonic  acid 
gas.  It  had  most  likely  been  generated  in  its  bowels, 
and  resulted  from  the  spasmodic  explosions  of  the  interior 
heat.  This  is  the  more  probable,  from  the  fact  that  it 
has  been  diminishing  in  extent  from  the  Paleozoic  forma- 
tion down  to  the  present  time.  If  it  was  the  result  of 
gaseous  explosions  during  volcanic  action,  the  fissures 
that  disruptured  the  strata  of  the  globe  allowed  it  to  es- 
cape in  great  abundance,  and,  combining  with  the  air,  it 
was  again  precipitated  upon  the  earth  in  the  form  of  vege- 
tation, and-  to  the  seas  in  grass,  moss,  algce,  and  half- 
vegetable  corals  and  zoophytes.  In  fact,  the  beginning 
of  organic  life  appears  to  have  been  .simultaneous  with 
the  formation  of  beds  of  coal  and  limestone — the  fossil- 
iferous  layers  of  which,  alternating  with  slate,  sand,  and 
shale,  distinct  and  in  combination,  comprise  the  main  ingre- 
dients in  the  rocks  known  respectively  as  the  Cambrian, 
the  Silurian,  the  Devonian,  and  the  Carboniferous — all 
of  which  are  properly  included  in  a  common  Paleozoic 
era,  since  it  was  begun  and  terminated  by  violent  convul- 
sions, and  occupies  a  position  unconformable  alike  to  the 
preceding  and  subsequent  rocks.  This,  I  am  well  aware, 
Is  not  the  usual  classification  of  geologists  ;  for  although 
it  is  the  system  of  Conybeare  and  others,  many  assign  a 
separate  era  to  the  old  red  sandstone  and  coal,  and  thus 
directly,  as  well  as  by  inference,  recognize  the  priority 
of  the  marine  animal  life  of  the  Silurian  group  over  the 


52  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

vegetation  of  the  land.  Such  priority  is  in  conflict  with 
the  order  of  nature  and  the  authority  of  Moses,  and  I 
have  never  been  able  to  discover  sufficient  grounds  for  its 
support. 

In  geological  order,  what  are  termed  non-fossiliferous 
rocks  occupy  two  distinct  formations — the  one  termed 
Igneous,  ^or  Plutonic  and  volcanic  (as  previously  men- 
tioned), and  the  other  Metamorphic,  or  stratified.  The 
igneous  rocks  include  granite  and  its  varieties  as  pri- 
maries ;  and  amygdaloid,  porphyry,  greenstone,  and 
basalt  as  secondaries,  or  volcanic — all  of  which,  bearing 
the  traces  of  heat,  exhibit  no  parallel  lines  of  stratification. 
The  metamorphic  group  comprises  gneiss,  hornblende, 
mica,  talcose  and  clay  slates ;  and  although  they  are 
stratified,  it  is  assumed  that  none  of  them  contain  fo'ssil 
remains — a  proposition,  so  far  as  traces  of  vegetation  are 
concerned,  which  I  propose  hereafter  to  question. 

The  igneous  rocks  proper,  it  has  already  been  re- 
marked, form  the  inclosing  rind  of  the  earth.  As  they 
are,  therefore,  the  immediate  result  of  its  primary  nebu- 
losity, undergoing  the  process  of  refrigeration,  condensa- 
tion, and  chemical  combination,  they  properly  belong  to 
the  work  of  the  preceding  astronomical  days.  Although 
they  had  not  yet  emerged  from  the  water,  they  neverthe- 
less existed  as  rocks  as  fully  as  those  now  at  the  bottom 
of  the  ocean  ;  and  they  therefore  belong,  not  to  the  day 
that  withdrew  the  water  from  them,  but  to  the  dfiy  during 
which  they  were  formed.  The  metamorphic  group  is  not 
only  different  in  its  origin,  but  different  in  structure  and 
character.  Being  the  fcetus  which  gave  birth  to  organic 
life,  it  should  be  included  with  the  Paleozoic  formation* 
as  the  basis  upon  which  to  stand.  There  would,  indeed, 
be  no  more  propriety  in  dating  the  years,  or  geological 
eras  of  the  animated  earth,  from  the  period  of  gestation, 
than  there  would  be  in  the  case  of  an  animal  or  a  human 


GIVING   OLD   THINGS  NEW   NAMES.  58 

being.  Having  been  elaborated  from  the  abrasion  of  the 
previous  rocks,  they  exhibit  a  striking  transition  from 
them  into  those  of  the  Paleozoic,  and  really  form  the  very 
bed  upon  which  life  was  first  introduced  on  the  face  of  the 
earth. 

The  granite  and  volcanic  rocks,  therefore,  belong  to  the 
evening  of  the  second  day ;  while  those  of  the  metarnor- 
phic  introduce  us  to  the  morning  of  the  third.  This  day 
I  conceive  to  be  represented  by  the  paleozoic  period  ;  and 
I  shall  proceed  to  point  out  some  of  the  varied  phenomena 
which  distinguished  it. 

The  term  paleozoic  refers  to  the  fossil  remains  of  the 
ancient  earth,  and  is  usually  applied  by  geologists  to  dis- 
tinguish those  great  systems  of  fossiliferous  rocks,  known 
as  the  Cambrian,  the  Silurian,  the  Devonian,  and  the 
Carboniferous.  I  have  enlarged  its  scope  so  far  as  to 
include  those  of  the  metamorphic,  since  these  rocks  form 
the  basis  of  all  the  others,  and  very  frequently  are  in- 
truded between  them.  I  should  not  have  assumed  this 
freedom  (with  the  respect  I  entertain  for  the  ancient 
landmarks),  had  I  not  good  grounds  to  believe,  in  addi- 
tion, that  they  were  originally  fossiliferous,  and  exhibit 
the  metamorphosed  remains  of  a  primitive  vegetation. 
Some  geologists,  it  is  perhaps  proper  to  state,  do  not 
adopt  the  word,  notwithstanding  its  peculiar  significance 
as  applied  to  a  great  paleontological  formation.  Among 
these  is  Sir  Charles  Lyell,  always  great  in  small  things, 
and  sometimes  small  in  great  ones,  but  whose  extensive 
travels  and  amiable  literary  style  entitle  his  works  to  all 
the  respect  they  have  received.  Instead  of  the  word 
Paleozoic,  he  adopts  that  of  Primary— primary  fossilifer- 
ous ;  but  as  this  word  is  often  applied  to  the  Azoic,  or 
non-fossiliferoiis  strata,  whose  chronological  priority  none 
will  question,  its  use  is  only  calculated  to  mislead.  Lyell, 
in  fact,  lias  invented  more  words,  and  made  fevrer  bona 


54  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

fide  discoveries  in  geological  science,  notwithstanding  his 
extensive  travels  and  experience,  than  any  leading  geolo- 
gist in  Europe  or  America.  The  truth  is,  that  the  accu- 
mulation of  mere  words  is  far  in  advance  of  geological 
progress  ;  and  such  is  the  confusion  and  complication  of 
nomenclature  among  geologists  themselves,  that  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  describe  or  identify  strata  without 
resorting  to  technical  tautology.  The  propensity  for 
calling  old  things  by  new  names,  invariably  betrays  the 
weakness  of  those  who  indulge  it.* 

*  I  will  here  step  out  of  my  way  to  notice  the  most  recent  and  the 
most  absurd  innovation  of  geological  nomenclature  ever  attempted.  The 
Geological  Survey  of  Pennsylvania,  commenced  in  1836  and  completed  in 
1859,  is  perhaps  the  most  stupendous  scientific  trash  ever  collected  together. 
The  Surveyor,  in  his  annual  reports  to  the  Legislature,  arranged  the  leading 
geological  formations  of  the  State  in  numerical  order.  This,  although  a 
serious  annoyance,  and  the  sublimation  of  impracticable  folly,  was  quietly 
submitted  to,  and  our  people  in  time  learned  to  regard  their  native  rocks 
as  "No.  1,"  or  "No.  2,"  etc.  For  my  part,  I  never  attempted  to  master 
this  nomenclature,  but  adhered  to  the  old  family  name? — names  which, 
like  that- of  Weller,  have  long  been  read  of. in  history  :  have,  ia  fViyr,  he- 
come  classical  in  geological  literature,  and  will  stand  with  those  of  the 
sun  and  stars  in  eosmical  philosophy. 

After  having,  for  many  years,  used  these  numerical  terms  in  all  his 
previous  annual  reports,  the  official  surveyor  again  presents  himself,  after 
along  absence  (which  the  geological  interests  of  the- State  never  appear 
to  have  realized),  clothed  from  head  to  foot  in  a  new  suit  of  unmeaning 
words.  Two  thousand  heavy,  cumbrous  pag«s  teem  with  the  words 
Primal,  Auroral,  Matinal,  Levant,  Surgent,  Scalent,  Pre-mevidian,  Me- 
ridian, Post-meridian,  Cadent,  Vergent,  Ponent,  Vespertine,  Umbral, 
Serai,  etc.  These  terms,  I  believe,  are  based  upon  the  idea  of  a  Paleozoic" 
day,  and  may  be  supposed  to  represent  the  hours.  According  to  his  own 
explanation,  obscurely  inserted  in  the  preface  to  the  first  volume,  they 
respectively  imply  the  Dawn,  Daybreak,  Morning,  Sunrise,  Mounting 
Day,  Climbing  Day,  Forenoon,  Noon,  Afternoon,  Declining  Day,  De- 
scending Day,  Sunset,  Evening,  Dusk,  and  Nightfall!  Although  these 
absurd  terms  are  applied  to  a  Paleozoic  Day  (a  clay  which,  by  the  way, 
he  fails  to  describe  in  his  report,  except  so  far  as  pertains  to  the  coal 
formation — for  the  mere  incidental  and  obscure  references  to  the  charac- 
teristics of  the  other  fossiliferous  rocks  cannot  be  regarded  as  a  geological 


GEOLOGY   DAYINDLING  INTO   VERBOSITY.  55 

This  increasing  disposition  to  embarrass  and  complicate 
the  Natural  Sciences  should  be  checked.  More  time  and 
trouble  are  often  wasted  in  overcoming  the  barriers  of  no- 
menclature thus  surrounding  ideas  and  facts,  than  in 
comprehending  the  naked  facts  themselves.  Words 
should  elucidate,  not  perplex  and  corfound.  The  old 
geological  nomenclature  of  England  is  that  of  the  English 
language  everywhere.  It  originated  in  her  mines  and 

description),  ihey  could,  with  much  more  propriety,  be  applied  to  geo- 
logical time  as  a  whole — weeks,  months,  years;  in  which  case  granite 
would  be  Primal ;  basalt,  amygdaloid,  porphyry,  and  other  volcanic  rocks, 
would  be  Auroral,  or  day -breaking  rocks;  Talc,  inica,  and  the  clay  slates 
would  be  Matinal;  the  Cambrian  group  would  become  Levant,  or  sun-rise 
rocks;  the  Silurians  would  be  Suryent,  or  mounting-day  strata;  and  the 
Devonian,  Scalents,  or  climbing-day  rocks  !  The  distinction  between  sun- 
rising,  mounting,  and  climbing,  is  not  very  perceptible  as  applied  to 
rocks,  but  the  idea  is  poetical !  Should  another  stratum  of  rocks,  inter- 
mediate between  tliene,  ever  be  discovered,  their  proper  appellation  would 
be  Siiail-eni,  or  craicltng-dny  rocks.  In  ascending  order,  the  conglom- 
erates and  old  red  sandstones  of  our  mountains  would  belong  to  the  Prc- 
meridian,  or  forenoon  rocks:  and  the  seams  of  coal  lying  upon  these 
would  become  Meridian,  or  noon  rocks, — furnishing  tlie  material,  as  they 
might,  for  cooking  the  noon  meal!  We  now  descend  in  the  geological 
day,  but  still  continue  upward  in  geological  order.  The  new  red  sand- 
stone and  magnesian  limestone,  according  to  this  patent  adjustible, 
double-acting,  reciprocal,  and  self-revolving  nomenclature,  ought  to  be 
the  Post-meridian,  or  afternoon  group.  Here  we  enter  the  great  Second- 
ary formation,  the  lower  Triassic  precincts  of  which  would  be  Cadent,  or 
declining-day  rocks.  Next  we  have  what  is  termed  in  England  the 
Oolitic  group,  comprising  upper,  middle,  and  lower  strata,  and  these, 
with  the  Liasic,  may  be  Vcryent,  or  descending-day  rocks.  The  differ- 
ence between  declining  and  descending  day  rocks,  would  appear  to  be 
that  so  long  existing  between  tweedle-dum  and  t*?eedle-dce.  Still  going 
downward  in  the  day,  but  inward  in  the  geological  scale,  we  arrive  at  the 
end  of  the  Secondary  formation,  consisting  of  several  layers  of  cretaceous 
and  fresh -water  strata.  These  are  possibly  Ponent,  or  sunset  rocks.  The 
Eocene  beds  of  the  Tertiary  are  Vespertine,  or  evening  rocks;  the  Miocene, 
Umbral,  or  dusk ;  and  the  Pleiocene,  Sera?,  or  nightfall  rocks.  After  this, 
we  obtain  a  night's  repose,  nnd  then  awaken  early  in  the  morning  to  the 
modern  or  present  geological  day! 


55  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

quarries,  where  geological  science  itself  had  birth,  and 
where  it  must  always  flourish  in  native  vigor.  Geology, 
indeed,  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  the  accumulated  ex- 
perience of  the  miner,  aided  by  the  observations  of  the 
traveler.  The  shafts  that  pierce  the  bowels  of  the  earth 
two  thousand  feet  beneath  the  surface — the  connecting 
gangways,  and  galleries,  and  tunnels — what  would  have 
been  known  of  the  interior  crust  in  the  absence  of  these  ? 
They  furnish  the  basis  upon  which  the  so-called  Geolo- 
gists weave  their  finely-spun  theories  and  speculations ; 
and  they  as  often  provide  the  data  \)j  which  they  may  be 
blown  away  as  bubbles  of  the  air  ! 

The  paleozoic  formation,  by  the  arrangement  which  I 
propose,  includes  and  begins  with  the  strata  of  the  rnet- 
amorphic  group.  These,  I  have  already  mentioned,  em- 
brace gneiss,  hornblende  clay,  mica  slate,  talcose  schist, 
and  clay  slate ;  but  included  among  them,  and  derived 
from  them,  are  various  other  minerals,  bearing  individual 
names.  Of  these  we  may  mention  talcose  gneiss,  a  strati- 
fied talcose  granite  ;  talcose  schist,  consisting  of  quartz 
and  talc,  or  talc  and  felspar  ;  quartz,  consisting  of  silicious 
grains,  stratified ;  crystalline  limestone,  or  marble ;  mica 
schist,  or  slate,  consisting  of  laminated  mica  and  quartz ; 
hornblende .  gneiss,  comprising  felspar,  quartz,  and  horn- 
blende ;  chlorite  schist,  abounding  in  scales  of  chlorine ; 
chiastolite,  similar  to  ordinary  clay  slate,  but  including 
slender  rhomboidal  crystals  of  chiastolite ;  actinolite,  a 
foliated  slate,  containing  more  or  less  felspar,  quartz,  or 
mica.  The  composition  of  gneiss  is  precisely  similar  to 
that  of  granite;  but  being  stratified  and  laminated,  the 
different  mineral  ingredients,  instead  of  being  thoroughly 
intermixed,  are  disseminated  in  irregular  parallel  seams. 
The  group,  in  fact,  embraces  very  nearly  the  same  ma- 
terial as  those  of  the  preceding  plutonic  and  volcanic  for- 
mation, the  main  difference  being  in  stratification.  Marble, 


IRON   AND   COPPER  OP  LAKE   SUPERIOR.  57 

or  crystalline  limestone,  unknown  to  the  previous  groups, 
makes  its  first  appearance  among  these  strata,  and  dis- 
tinguishes every  subsequent  geological  formation,  either 
as  marble  or  ordinary  limestones.  I  have  already  called 
attention  to  the  content  of  oxyd  of  iron  in  the  previous 
rocks.  They  nearly  all  contain  more  or  less,  while  a  few 
have  as  high  as  from  twenty  to  forty  per  cent.  It  rarely 
occurs,  however,  in  large  deposits,  or  in  a  state  of  very 
great  purity  in  those  rocks;  but  their  disintegration, 
during  the  metamorphic  period,  permitted  the  earthy  ma- 
terial with  which  it  was  united,  to  escape  and  to  be 
carried  away  by  the  water,  leaving  the  iron  behind  to  ac- 
cumulate in  large  layers  and  deposits,  which  it  could 
readily  do  from  its  high  specific  gravity. '  The  great  iron 
and  copper  regions  of  Lake  Superior,  running  close 
together,  and  nearly  parallel  with  each  other  for  more 
than  one  hundred  miles,  are  surrounded  by  primitive  or 
igneous  rocks ;  but  the  mineral  lodes  often  traverse 
sedimentary  rocks  which  have  been  altered  by  the  trap 
dykes  that  ramify  the  entire  formation.  The  copper  often 
occurs  in  a  state  of  absolute  purity,  while  the  iron  is  little 
inferior,  yielding  from  sixty  to  seventy-four  per  cent,  of 
metallic  iron  in  the  furnace.  Both  these  minerals  must 
have  been  sublimated  in  the  Plutonic  rocks  that  surround 
them.  The  copper,  from  its  metallic  purity,  must  have 
been  injected  in  a  liquid  state,  like  that  tapped  from  a 
smelting  furnace,  and  thus  forced  between  the  strata  and 
through  the  cavities  and  pores  of  the  overlying  sediment- 
ary rocks,  all  of  which  became  metamorphosed  and  very 
much  disturbed  and  contorted  by  the  operating  heat, 
But  before  the  copper  was  injected,  it  is  probable  that  the 
iron  of  the  adjacent  region  had  been  collected  together  in 
ihe  bottom  of  a  lake,  having  been  precipitated  as  an  oxyd 
upon  the  evaporation  of  the  water  of  the  seas  during  the 
second  day,  while  the  heat  accompanying  the  volcanic 


58  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

dykes  no  doubt  served  to  change  the  sedimentary  char- 
acter of  the  rocks  themselves,  and  to  sublimate  both  the 
minerals  at  nearly,  if  not  the  same  time.  Phenomena  some- 
what similar  will  also  account  satisfactorily  for  the  origin  of 
the  great  iron  deposits  of  the  Pilot  Knob  in  Missouri ;  that 
of  Cornwall  in  Pennsylvania,  and  of  Lake  Champlain  in 
New  York.  Indeed,  so  far  as  aqueous  action  is  concerned, 
all  the  deposits  of  haematite  (hydrous  oxyd  of  iron)  found 
in  inetamorphic  rocks,  have  undergone  a  process  not  much 
dissimilar,  hence  their  purity  and  comparative  freedom 
from  extraneous  substances.- 

As  to  the  fossiliferous  character  of  the  inetamorphic 
rocks,  I  shall  have  some  remarks  to  offer  hereafter,  in 
connection  with  the  coal  formation.  In  the  mean  time,  I 
may  here  observe  that  plumbago  and  anthracite  occur  to 
some  extent  in  them,  and  I  regard  this  fact  as  sufficient  to 
establish  the  previous  existence  of  vegetation,  the  remains 
of  which  have  been  nearly  obliterated  in  consequence  of 
the  heat  which  metamorphosed  them. 

Immediately  above  the  metamorphie  group  is  that  de- 
nominated the  Cambrian,  after  a  district  in  Wales,  in 
which  they  were  first  noticed.  There  strata,  however, 
are  not  unfrequently  distinguished  as  the  "lower  Silu- 
rian"— a  name  derived  from  the  ancient  Sylures  of 
Britain,  the  applicability  of  which  to  geology,  like  a  great 
many  other  terms,  is  not  very  apparent.  It  is  a  marine 
formation,  consisting  of  slates,  lime,  and  sand,  variously 
intermixed,  but  generally  in  separate  layers.  Some  of 
these  are  fossiliferous,  affording  specimens  of  coral  and 
molluscan  brachiopoda.  The  upper,  or  Silurian  proper, 
is  not  very  dissimilar  in  lithologjcal  character,  l|ut  is 
much  more  prolific  in  marine  fossils,  principally  mol- 
luscous. Fish,  so  called,  but  partaking  more  of  the  nature 
of  lizards,  first  appear  in  this  era ;  while  corals,  serpula, 
and  trilobites  are  abundant. 


PRACTICAL  VALUE   OP   ASTRONOMICAL   SCIENCE.  59 

The  aggregate  thickness  of  these  rocks  varies  from  six 
to  ten  thousand  feet,  and  they  cover  very  extensive  areas 
both  in  Europe  and  America.  In  the  United  States  the 
Cambrian  or  lower  Silurian  rocks  extend  in  a  continuous 
and  gradually  expanding  belt  from  the  State  of  Alabama, 
northeast  through  Georgia,  Tennessee,  North  Carolina, 
Virginia,  Pennsylvania,  and  New  York.  They  form  the 
north  shore  of  Lake  Ontario,  and  thence  pass  along  the 
St.  Lawrence  river,  on  both  sides,  to  Montreal  and 
Quebec,  and  finally  disappear  in  the  Gulf  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence. They  also  cover  a  vast*  region  of  country  in  Wis- 
consin and  the  British  possessions  north  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  Detached  deposits  occur  on  the  Ohio  river 
below  Louisville,  and  near  Nashville,  Tennessee,  and  are 
generally  prolific  in  their  characteristic  fossils.  The 
upper  Silurian  strata  are  still  more  extensive.  Arkansas, 
Missouri,  Indiana,  Ohio,  and  New  York,  have  more  or 
less  of  surface  covered  with  them ;  while  all  the  lakes, 
except  that  of  Superior,  are  nearly  surrounded  by  them, 
The  beautiful  white  sandstone  and  fossiliferous  limestone 
so  extensively  used  for  building  purposes  in  Detroit,  Chi- 
cago, Cincinnati,  and  St.  Louis,  are  characteristic  of  this 
group  of  rocks.  They  are  also  very  plentifully  distributed 
in  Russia  and  Siberia,  in  England  and  Wales,  and  more 
sparingly  in  isolated  patches  in  France,  .Germany,  Portu- 
gal, and  Prussia.  They  occur  to  some  extent  in  the  East 
Indies,  along  the  River  Ganges,  and  the  southeastern 
portion  of  Bengal.  In  Australia  these  rocks  form  long 
belts,  rising  parallel  with  and  often  including  the  gold 
region. 

Rocks  of  the  Silurian  group  are  cut  through  and  hand- 
somely exposed  at  the  celebrated  Falls  of  Niagara.  They 
not  only  form  the  perpendicular  shores  of  that  river  and 
of  the  adjacent  lakes,  but  extend  all  over  the  surround- 
ing country,  in  some  directions  for  hundreds  of  miles. 


60  THE   THIKD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

The  valley  of  the  Niagara  river,  some  fourteen  miles  be- 
tween the  two  lakes  of  Erie  and  Ontario,  was  originally 
much  wider  than  it  is  now.  The  terraces  of  the  ancient 
shores  of  the  stream  are  plainly  discernible ;  and  they 
abound  with  shells  of  Unio,  Cyclas,  Valvata,  Planorbis, 
and  Helix,  all  of  recent  species.  Beyond  these  terraces 
are  others,  still  more  ancient ;  and  there  is  good  ground 
to  believe,  from  the  sand,  gravel,  and  mud  distributed 
over  the  surface,  that  the  adjacent  lakes,  at  a  period  not 
very  remote  in  geological  time,  extended  all  over  the  sur- 
rounding plains. 

Attention  was  first  directed  to  these  falls  by  a  French 
missionary,  named  Hennepin,  in  1678.  The  French  ex- 
plored the  whole  country  from  the  Gulf  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence to  the  head  of  Lake  Superior,  and  held  possession 
of  it  at  the  time  that  the  English  planted  their  Colonies 
in  America.  Hennepin  wrote  a  short  account  of  the 
cataract,  and  accompanied  it  with  maps  of  the  lakes,  and 
a  pictorial  sketch  of  the  Falls.  According  to  this  sketch^ 
there  were  at  that  period  three  distinct  cataracts.  In 
addition  to  the  "  American"  and  the  "  Horse-shoe"  Falls, 
there  was  then  one  which  might  be  called  the  "  Table- 
Rock"  Falls,  because  it  was  evidently  in  that  vicinity. 
This  latter  cataract  was  occasioned  by  an  obstruction  in 
the  Rapids,  which  diverted  the  water  around  the  Horse- 
shoe Falls,  and  hurled  it  over  the  precipice  at  the  Table- 
Rock,  which  is  directly  opposite  the  American  Falls. 
Table-Rock  is  traversed  by  fissures  and  cracks  which 
permit  the  periodical  detachment  of  fragments  ;  and  the 
shores  of  the  river  below  are  strewn  with  the  masses  thus 
worn  off. 

The  Falls  of  Niagara  are  precipitated  over  a  stratum 
of  limestone  eighty  feet  thick,  and  a  stratum  of  argilla- 
ceous shale,  under  the  limestone,  also  eighty  feet  thick. 
The  perpendicular  descent  of  the  water  is  therefore  about 


GEOLOGICAL   FEATURES   OF   NIAGARA  FALLS.  61 

one  hundred  and  forty  feet.  The  limestone  contains  nu- 
merous cavities  filled  with  sulphate  of  lime,  sometimes 
called  selenite,  alabaster,  or  gypsum.  These  nodules  of 
alabaster,  varying  in  size  from  a  walnut  to  a  cocoanut, 
are  extensively  used  by  the  lapidists  at  the  Falls  in  the 
production  of  carved  ornaments,  which  are  sold  to  trav- 
elers to  commemorate  their  visit  to  the  place.  The 
underlying  shale  contains  a  large  amount  of  iron  pyrites, 
the  decomposition  of  which,  on  exposure  to  the  air,  has- 
tens the  disintegration  of  the  rock.  Now,  the  violent 
whirling  and  agitation  of  the  water  below,  as  it  falls  over 
the  precipice,  wears  away  the  crumbling  shale,  and  thus 
undermines  the  stratum  of  limestone.  It  is  in  conse- 
quence of  this  wearing  away  of  the  shale  that  visitors  are 
enabled  to  pass  under  the  Falls.  But  owing  to  the  pecu- 
liar cellular  structure  of  the  bed  of  limestone,  the  under- 
mining process  cannot  extend  beyond  a  certain  limit 
without  producing  fractures,  which  are  materially  ex- 
tended by  the  weight  and  velocity  of  the  water.  Large 
masses  of  rock  are  therefore  detached,  from  time  to  time, 
and  the  gradual  retrogression  of  the  cataract  is  thus 
rendered  certain,  and  plain  to  our  comprehension. 

The  extent  of  this  erosion  and  retrogression  was  esti- 
mated by  the  celebrated  Mr.  Bollewell,  in  1830,  as  equal 
to  an  average  of  one  yard  per  annum.  It  is  supposed  that 
the  original  site  of  the  falls  was  at  Queenston,  seven  miles 
below ;  and  if  so,  the  erosion,  at  the  annual  average  esti- 
mated, would  have  occupied  about  12,000  years.  Sir 
Charles  Lyell,  however,  made  a  careful  examination  3f 
the  Falls  and  of  the  country  around  it,  during  his  visit  to 
America  in  1841.  He  estimated  the  erosion  at  one  foot 
per  year,  according  to  which  it  would  have  required 
36,000  years  for  the  Falls  to  change  their  original  for 
their  present  location. 

If  the  reader  has  ever  passed  over  the  waters  of  Lake 
6 


G2  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

Huron  or  St.  Glair,  or  over  the  great  western  railway  of 
Canada,  from  Toronto  to  Detroit,  he  will  remember  the 
vast  marshy  flats  that  encompass  those  waters.  As  far 
as  the  eye  can  see,  there  is  often  nothing  but  these  flats. 
They  just  emerge  sufficiently  above  the  level  of  the  water 
to  support  a  rank,  long-bladed  grass.  Millions  and 
millions  of  acres  of  land,  flat,  as  the  surface  of  the  lakes, 
are  thus  ramified  and  encircled  by  the  water ;  but  their 
rank  vegetation  gradually  raises  the  surface  higher  and 
higher,  and  in  time  the  land  will  be  wholly  redeemed  from 
the  dominion  of  the  water.  Now  all  the  praries  of  the 
great  West  were  once  in  the  condition  of  these  lake  flats. 
They  have  been  redeemed  from  primitive  lakes  and  seas 
by  vegetation — the  mould  and  lime  of  which  constitute 
their  characteristic  agricultural  fertility. 

That  the  surface  of  the  ancient  seas  and  lakes  has 
been  gradually  reduced,  and  the  water  emptied  into  narrow 
river  channels,  will  be  very  apparent  to  the  geological 
observer  in  traveling  through  the  South  and  West.  The' 
Valley  of  the  Mississippi  was  once  a  series  of  great  lakes, 
covering  the  adjacent  Silurian  country  for  hundreds  of 
miles  around  ;  and  these  basins  were  finally  drained  in  the 
manner  just  described.  An  illustration  of  the  diminution 
of  the  water,  as  well  as  of  the  ceaseless  economy  of  nature 
in  the  formation  of  rocks,  may  be  observed  on  the  shores 
•of  Lake  Ontario.  Standing  by  the  water's  edge  you  will 
see  the  larger  pebbles  coated  with  innumerable  parasitic 
pebbles,  varying  from  a  pin's  head  to  particles  as  large  as 
chestnuts.  These  are  joined  together  by  a  cement  of  lime 
held  in  solution  by  the  water.  As  the  small  pebbles  are 
rolled  up  on  the  shore,  the  limy  concretion  attaches  them 
to  the  larger  stones ;  and  when  the  lake  is  ruffled  by 
storms,  the  excited  waves  roll  in  larger  pebbles,  and  they 
are  thus  intermixed  with  the  sand  and  cement,  and  all 
united  together.  The  result  of  this  operation  is  the  for- 


FORMATION  OP  CONGLOMERATE  ROCKS.        63 

mation  of  beds  of  conglomerate  rock ;  and  on  casting  your 
eye  up  to  the  ancient  terraces  you  perceive  beds  of  such 
rocks,  varying  from  ten  to  one  hundred  feet  in  thickness. 
You  thus  perceive  not  only  the  gradual  withdrawal  of  the 
water  from  the  shores  of  the  lake,  but  also  the  whole 
mechanical  process  of  the  origin  of  its  rocky  strata.  In 
time  all  these  lakes  will  dwindle  into  mere  rivers,  and  the 
adjacent  flats  will  become  teeming  prairies  like  those  of 
Illinois. 

Next  above  the  Silurians,  we  have  another  group, 
scarcely  less  extensive,  either  in  bulk  or  geographical  dis- 
tribution. In  England  it  is  called  the  Devonian  system, 
after  a  county  in  which  it  furnishes  the  prevailing  rocks. 
It  is,  however,  more  generally  and  familiarly  known  to 
the  public  through  two  of  its  most  important  representa- 
tives— the  Old  Red  Sandstone  and  the  Carboniferous  or 
mountain  limestone.  It  is  almost  useless  to  mention 
special  localities,  for  they  are  strewn  all  over  the  world 
in  one  form  or  another.  They  occur  in  great  abundance 
on  the  western  slope  of  the  Ural  Mountains,  and  far 
interior  from  the  eastern  shores  of  the  Baltic  Sea,  in 
Russia.  They  encircle  and  underlie  all  the  coal  fields  of 
England,  Scotland,  Wales,  Germany,  France,  and  indeed 
nearly  every  coal  basin  on  continental  Europe.  The  old 
red  sandstone  of  Caithness  and  Cromarty,  in  Scotland,  has 
been  clothed  with  geological  interest,  from  the  explorations 
and  poetical  descriptions  of  the  late  Hugh  Miller.  In 
some  respects  he  was  a  geologist  in  the  fullest  sense  of 
the  term  ;  in  others  he  was  quite  the  reverse.  He  always 
spoke  of  the  rocks,  however,  with  the  enthusiasm  of  an 
investigator,  and  the  familiarity  of  one  who  loved  them. 
The  old  red  sandstone,  wherever  it  occurs  throughout  the 
civilized  world,  will  form  an  enduring  monument  to  his 
memory.  I  shall  probably  have  occasion,  in  the  subse- 
quent pages  of  this  book,  to  combat  some  of  his  latest 
5 


64  THE    THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

geologico-theological  propositions,  inasmuch  as  they  are 
in  conflict  with  divine  revelation  ;  but  I  may  say  here,  in 
advance,  that  I  entertain  the  highest  regard  for  his 
memory,  and  whatever  remarks  I  shall  address  to  his 
writings,  must  be  understood  as  applying  to  the  school 
of  geologists  still  living,  of  which  he  was  an  ornament 
and  a  literary  expounder. 

In  the  United  States,  the  rocks  of  this  group  constitute 
the  rim  or  boundaries  of  coal  basins — hence  the  universal 
use  of  the  term  "basin"  as  applied  to  coal.  The  forma- 
tion of  these  basins  or  lakes,  did  not  differ  materially  from 
those  of  the  metamorphic  and  Silurian  eras,  nor  yet  from 
those  now  existing.  While,  however,  the  others  were  all 
marine,  and  directly  appertained  to  the  primitive  seas, 
those  of  the  Devonian  period  were  sometimes  inland, 
(like  those  of  lakes  Superior,  Huron,  or  Brie,)  and  some- 
times marine,  like  the  great  basin  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico ; 
and  again,  partaking  of  the  alternate  nature  of  both,  like 
the  estuaries  formed  by  great  rivers  where  their  waters 
are  emptied  into  the  ocean.  During  the  period  now  in 
question,  by  far  the  largest  portions  of  Europe,  Africa, 
and  Asia  were  still  under  the  dominion  of  the  sea.  In 
Europe,  portions  of  England,  France,  Prussia,  Austria, 
and  Turkey,  were  still  submerged ;  but  the  greater  part 
of  Russia  proper  had  been  redeemed  by  the  Silurians, 
while  the  whole  of  Lapland,  Finland,  Norway,  and 
Sweden,  had  appeared  during  the  metamorphic  era.  In 
Africa,  the  whole  country  frornthe  great  desert  of  Sahara 
south  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  had  already  emerged 
from  the  sea;  but  the  great  desert  itself  remained  a  desert 
of  water  until  after  the  Tertiary  formation.  So  in  Asia, 
nearly  the  whole  surface  of  Tartary,  and  the  vast  region 
in  Siberia,  east  of  the  Ural  Mountains,  and  bordering  the 
Arctic  Ocean,  were  unreclaimed  until  the  dawn  of  the 
modern  geological  era. 


AMERICA   THE   OLDEST   CONTINENT.  65 

Although  America  is  popularly  termed  the  new  world, 
geology  proves  it  to  be  of  much  greater  antiquity  than 
either  of  the  other  geographical  divisions  of  the  earth. 
By  far  the  largest  portion  of  it  had  appeared  during  the 
metamorphic  era ;  and  at  that  time  it  comprised  at  least 
twice  as  much  surface  as  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa  com- 
bined. All  that  portion  now  comprising  the  coast  line  of 
the  Pacific,  in  South  America — or  more  properly,  all  that 
belt  of  country,  comprising  the  mountain  system  of  the 
Andes,  and  traversing  nearly  the  whole  length  of  South 
America,  parallel  with,  and  from  sixty  to  one  hundred  and 
thirty  miles  from  the  coast  line, — had  been  elevated 
during  the  primary  eras.  From  Terra  del  Fuego,  north 
through  Chili,  Peru,  Ecuador,  New  Grenada,  and  Vene- 
zuela, and  thence  over  the  narrow  strait  separating  the 
two  oceans,  to  the  range  of  Rocky  Mountains  (a  mere 
continuation  of  the  Andes,  their  geological  structure  being 
similar;)  thence  northwest  through  California,  Oregon, 
and  Washington,  to  Russian  America,  where  the  forma- 
tion greatly  expands,  and  finally  sinks  into  the  ocean — 
all  this  vast  region  had  been  elevated  during  the  primary 
epochs  of  geology.  And  it  may  be  added  that  volcanic 
action  is  still  occasionally  aroused,  not  only  in  the  Andes, 
where  the  loftiest  volcanic  peaks  in  the  world  are  to  be 
found,  but  all  along  the  coast,  and  even  amid  the  wide 
expanse  of  waters  j  and  such  action  is  still  gradually  but 
certainly  making  new  acquisitions  of  territory.  Indeed, 
a  large  extent  of  country,  east  of  the  Andes,  passing 
through  Patagonia,  Buenos  Ayres,  Bolivia,  and-  the 
western  part  of  Brazil,  has  been  reclaimed  from  the  ocean 
since  the  Tertiary  period.  The  country  drained  by  the 
Amazon  and  its  tributaries,  is  generally  alluvial,  and  has 
been  converted  into  dry  land  within  the  modern  era  of 
geology— the  whole  of  that  vast  domain— larger  than  tho 
States  of  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  and  Ohio, 


66  THE  THIRD  DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

combined — having  previously  been  occupied  by  lakes 
emptying  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  The  largest  portion 
of  Brazil,  however — that  lying  along  the  Atlantic,  and 
for  the  most  part  drained  by  the  river  La  Plata — is  of 
primitive^  origin,  as  are  also  the  larger  portions  of  Guiana 
and  Venezuela ; — but,  with  these  exceptions,  nearly  the 
whole  remaining  surface  was  submerged  until  within  a 
period  comparatively  recent.  The  vast  expanse  of  terri- 
tory north  of  lake  Superior,  and  indeed  all  around 
Hudson's  Bay,  is  likewise  anterior  to  the  Devonian  era ; 
and  with  the  exception  of  the  prairie  regions  of  the  West, 
already  mentioned,  it  may  be  safely  assumed  that  most  of 
the  states  comprising  our  confederate  cluster,  were  still 
covered  over  by  the  sea,  or  with  great  interior  lakes 
emptying  into,  and  liable  to  be  invaded  by  the  sea,  during 
the  deposition  of  the  Devonian  rocks. 

Now  during  the  particular  geological  era  we  are  con- 
sidering, there  was  a  small  basin  running  from  the_  Rio 
Grand  river,  in  the  southern  part  of  Texas,  northeast  to 
the   Red   river.     This  basin    at   one   time   received  the 
j  waters  of  both  these  streams,  besides  those  of  the  upper 

j  Colorado  and  Brazos,  which  now  pass  through  it  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico.  Coal  is  found  at  both  ends  of  it ;  and 
when  it  was  finally  elevated,  its  waters  were  discharged 
in  the  rivers  now  flowing  through  and  around  it.  Another 

\  basin  is  traversed  by  the  Arkansas  river,  further  east, 
and  lying  in  the  state  thus  named.  Another,  larger  and 

i  better  defined  than  either,  occurs  in  Iowa  and  Missouri, 

*  into  which  the  Missouri  river  originally  emptied,  and 
through  the  western  boundary  of  which  it  now  passes. 
A  fourth  basin,  still  larger  and  better  developed,  is  in  the 
state  of  Illinois,  the  capital  of  the  state  being  very  nearly 
in  the  centre.  This  great  basin  received  the  waters  of 
the  Missouri,  those  of  the  upper  Mississippi,  of  the  river 
Illinois,  of  the  Ohio,  the  Tennessee,  and  many  other 


COAL  BASINS   OP   UNITED   STATES.  6f 

smaller  ones.  It  was  a  great  basin,  and  considerably  larger 
than  our  existing  lake  Superior.  Further  north,  bounded 
on  the  west  by  the  entire  length  of  lake  Michigan,  and 
on  the  northeast  by  lake  Huron,  is  a  fifth  basin,  not  so  large 
nor  so  well  defined  as  the  last  mentioned ;  but  indicating, 
from  its  proximity  to  the  existing  lakes,  their  former  exten- 
sion over  the  Devonian  rocks  that  are  now  intermediate 
between  them.  The  last,  and  by  far  the  largest  basin,  is 
that  comprising  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  beginning  in 
the  southwest  on  the  head  waters  of  the  Mobile  river,  in 
the  state  of  Alabama,  and  in  the  northwest  on  the  Ten- 
nessee river  (very  nearly  adjoining  the  Illinois  basin,) 
and  thence  running  northeast  with  the  Alleghany  Moun- 
tains, through  Kentucky,  V.irginia,  Maryland,  and  Penn- 
sylvania, and  finally  terminating  m  a  broad  expanse  in  the 
state  of  New  York.  A  sixth,  but  very  small  basin,  occurs 
in  Rhode  Island,  connected  with  the  sea  by  a  broad  inlet; 
and  another,  or  rather  several  of  them,  in  the  British 
Provinces  of  Nova  Scotia,  New  Brunswick,  and  Prince 
Edward's  Island.  These  latter  basins  literally  sink  into 
the  ocean  and  reappear  in  the  island  mentioned.  All  the 
basins  thus  enumerated  contain  coal. 

The  same  means  by  which  the  waters  of  lake  Ontario 
are  daily  forming  conglomerate  rocks,  and  strewing  them 
in  layers  on  its  shores,  were  in  operation,  though  on  a 
much  larger  scale,  during  this  Devonian  period.  The 
great  bulk  of  the  rocks  comprise  conglomerates  and  sand- 
stones, interstratified  with  layers  of  slate  and  shale,  and 
concretionary  and  blue  crystalline  limestones.  In  many 
instances  the  limestones  are  wanting  ;  or  where  they  occur 
the  conglomerates  are  omitted,  or  appear  in  thin  layers. 
No  limestone  (or  but  a  very  small  and  impure  seam)  exists 
in  the  Devonian  rocks  underlying  the  anthracite  coal 
basins  ;  and  v^ry  little  is  found  in  those  of  the  bituminous, 
east  of  Pittsburg.  This  singular  fact  may  be  accounted  . 


68  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

for  in  this  way :  The  Alleghany  basin  comprised  many 
subordinate  ones,  communicating  with  each  other,  like 
those  of  Superior,  Huron,  Michigan,  and  Erie.  Lying 
adjacent  to  the  main  chain  of  basins,  were  several  outliers, 
like  that  of  lake  Michigan.  These  outlying  basins  are 
those  of  the  anthracite  coal  regions  ;  another  is  the  semi- 
anthracite  of  Broad  Top,  further  west ;  and  another  is  that 
of  Cumberland,  in  Maryland.  These  are  all  on  the  eastern 
slope  of  the  Alleghany,  while  the  main  basins  now  occupy 
the  summits  of  that  mountain  or  its  western  slope.  The 
northeastern  terminus  of  the  Devonian  rocks  was  origi- 
nally surrounded  by  those  of  the  igneous  formation. 
Their  debris  was  drained  into  these  lakes,  the  waters  of 
which  held  silex  in  suspension.  Tlje  fragments  of  rock, 
as  they  were  moved  about  by  the  water,  became  rounded 
and  angular,  and  were  finally  deposited  in  layers,  and 
cemented  together  by  the  silicious  secretion  of  the  water. 
The  vast  beds  of  conglomerate  rock  and  coarse  sandstone, 
underlying  the  anthracite  coal,  were  formed  in  this 
manner ;  and  the  whole  process  is  exactly  similar  to  that 
now  daily  illustrated  on  the  shores  of  lake  Ontario. 
While  the  larger  pebbles  were  thus  converted  into  rocks, 
the  smaller  ones  were  hurried  on  from  one  basin  to 
another  by  the  current  of  the  water ;  and  the  fine  sand 
went  still  further.  This  gradation  from  a  coarse  to  a  finer 
conglomerate,  and  thence  to  ordinary  sandstone,  is  beauti- 
fully illustrated  in  the  coal  measures.  The  thickness  of 
the  rocks  also  diminishes  with  the  extent  the  debris  was 
transported.  The  conglomerate  of  the  anthracite  basins 
are  much  thicker  than  the  same  strata  elsewhere,  while 
toward  the  southwestern  termination  of  the  Alleghany 
basin,  they  scarcely  occur  at  all,  or  when  they  do,  it  is  in 
the  form  of  sandstone.  The  conglomerate  having  been 
mainly  retained  by  the  upper  basins,  and  especially  by 
those  of  the  anthracites,  where  it  originated,  its  deficiency 


DEVONIAN   BASINS   AND   RIVERS.  69 

in  those  below,  was  supplied  by  layers  of  limestone,  which 
increase  in  thickness,  southwestward  from  Pittsburg, 
with  the  decrease  of  the  silicious  rocks.  m  There  was  thus 
a  reciprocal  movement  between  the  two  ends  of  the  great 
basins — one  supplying  silicious,  and  the  other  calcareous 
matter  to  the  water.  The  limestones  embrace  two  kinds  ; 
that  called  the  concretionary  was  abstracted  from  the 
disintegration  of  the  adjacent  Silurian  rocks,  which  formed 
the  rims  of  all  the  basins  below  Pittsburg ; — while  the 
blue  crystalline  was  derived  partly  from  the  influx  of  the 
sea  into  the  lower  basins,  and  partly  from  the  calcareous 
belt  washed  down  from  those  above.  These  limestones 
are  remarkable  for  their  cavernous  structure,  and  their 
mineral  ores.  The  celebrated  Mammoth  Cave  of  Kentucky, 
and  (I  believe)  those  of  Weyer  and  Madison,  in  Virginia, 
are  in  rocks  of  this  group.  All  of  them  abound  in  sta- 
lactites of  the  most  beautiful  and  picturesque  form.  In  I 
the  vicinity  of  Galena,  in  Illinois,  these  rocks  contain  "] 
lead  ;  and  in  other  places,  besides  that  mineral,  they  afford  i 
copper,  zinc,  manganese,  and  iron. 

It  may  be  observed,  that  while  the  anthracite  basins  were 
at  the  head  of  the  others,  they  were  also  the  deepest,  and 
hence  required  a  great  deal  more  earthy  material  to  fill 
them  up.  *Lake  Superior  is  likewise  the  largest  and 
deepest  of  all  those  below  it — while  St.  Glair  and  Erie 
are  the  smallest  and  the  shallowest.  Superior  is  1000, 
Huron  900,  Ontario  600,  and  Erie  but  20  feet  deep.  In 
time,  Erie  will  be  so  far  filled  up  that  its  present  bottom 
will  become  like  the  St.  Glair  flats,  and  its  main  current 
will  ultimately  degenerate  into  a  mere  river,  similar  to  that 
of  the  Detroit,  the  St.  Mary's,  or  the  St.  Lawrence.  It 
must  be  bo-rne  in  mind,  that  these  Devonian  lakes  drained 
the  surrounding  country,  in  the  same  manner  as  exist- 
ing lakes  and  rivers,  and  therefore  it  is  highly  probable 
that,  before  the  elevation  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  and 


tO  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

while  the  sea  was  still  undulating  over  the  country  now 
comprising  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  and  part  of 
Tennessee,  Arkansas,  Texas,  arid  nearly  the  whole  of  Ne- 
braska, Kansas,  and  the  Indian  reservations,  the  whole 
system  of  drainage  was  in  that  direction,  that  is,  west  and 
southwestward,  and  all  the  adjacent  country,  including 
the  coal  basins  of  Illinois,  Missouri,  and  the  lower  Alle- 
ghany,  were,  from  time  to  time,  invaded  by  the  sea.  In 
fact,  the  whole  interior  region  between  Canada  on  the 
north,  the  New  England  States  on  the  east ;  Georgia  and 
the  Carolinas  on  the  south,  and  the  Rocky  Mountains  on 
the  west,  was  a  vast  shallow  marine  gulf,  scarcely  inferior 
to  that  of  Mexico,  receiving  the  drainage  of  the  rnetamor- 
phic  country,  previously  elevated  in  the  north,  east,  and 
west.  The  Silurians  had  afterward  converted  much  of 
this  great  basin  into  land  ;  but  I  beg  the  reader  to  under- 
stand that,  by  far  the  largest  portion  of  it,  during  the  De- 
vonian period  we  are  now  describing,  was  still  under  water. 
while  the  flat  marshy  land  itself,  was  constantly  liable  to 
inundation  from  oceanic  tides,  storms,  and  crust  oscillations. 
This  fact  sufficiently  understood,  the  reader  will  readily 
comprehend  the  phenomena  to  which  I  will  presently 
invite  his  attention — phenomena,  the  solutiop  of  which, 
constitute  the  most  difficult  problems  in  theoretical  Ge- 
ology. 

After  the  Devonian  basins  began  to  fill  up,  and  their 
broad  margins  had  already  been  converted  into  marshy 
flats,  precisely  similar  to  those  of  St.  Clair,  vegetation 
flourished  immediately  in  the  most  extraordinary  luxu- 
riance— the  resinous  juices  of  which,  by  a  process  of  fer- 
mentation and  combustion  hereafter  to  be  described,  were 
subsequently  converted  into  layers  of  mineral  coal.  But 
before  I  .enter  upon  a  description  of  the  origin  of  coal,  it 
is  expedient  here  to  attend  to  some  other  matters  as  a  pre- 
liminary step.  We  shall  therefore  defer  further  remarks 


SYSTEM   OP  DEVONIAN   LAKES.  TJ 

on  this  point,  to  consider  briefly  the  paleontology  of  the 
rocks  we  have  thus  far  encountered,  or  rather  that  portion 
comprising  fossil  botany ;  for  although  the  Silurians  and 
Devonian  systems  afford  specimens  of  Zoophytes  and  Mol- 
lusca,  and  in  some  regions  fish  of  a  peculiar  type,  they  may 
more  properly  be  reviewed  in  the  Fifth  Day.  The  reptiles 
and  land  animals — foot-prints  of  which  are  supposed  to 
have  been  found  as  low  down  as  the  Silurians — will  also 
receive  attention  ;  but  in  the  mean  time,  we  may  premise 
that  vegetation  constitutes  the  prevailing  characteristic  of  the 
era  under  consideration,  and  that  whatever  animals  existed 
.were  of  a  low  and  humble  type,  and  confined  to  the  sea 
altogether.  The  theory  of  land  animals,  of  rain-drops, 
sun  cracks,  and  other  visions  of  the  geologists,  as  referred 
to  the  Devonian  rocks,  we  shall  show  to  be  in  direct  con- 
flict with  the  Bible,  and  to  have  not  the  shadow  of  founda- 
tion in  fact.  It  will  then  be  demonstrated,  what  few  ge- 
ologists have  yet  conceded,  that  vegetation  necessarily 
preceded  animal  life  on  the  earth,  agreeably  to  the  Mosaic 
requirement. 

Now,  the  vegetation  of  the  metamorphic  rocks  must 
have  consisted  mainly  of  flowerless  grasses,  perhaps  not 
dissimilar  to  that  which  flourishes  'spontaneously  over  the 
St.  Clair  flats,  and  along  the  marshy  bottoms  of  rivers  and 
oceans.  The  great  heat  and  moisture  of  that  period,  must 
have  added  very  materially  to  their  growth ;  while  the 
subsequent  metamorphism  of  the  inclosing  rocks,  con- 
verted the  grass  into  a  species  of  impure  coal,  and  thence 
into  earthy  plumbago.  It  is  because  of  the  heat  to  which 
all  these  rocks  were  exposed,  that  all  traces  of  vegetable 
structure  have  been  obliterated ;  but  the  coal  and  plum- 
bago themselves  evince  -an  unmistakable  vegetable  origin. 

The  oldest  fossiliferous  rock  yet  discovered  in  the  United 
States  (or  in  Europe),  is  supposed  to  be  what  is  called,  in 
New  York,  the  Potsdam  sandstone,  because  of  its  occurrence 


72  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

at  a  town  of  that  name.  It  extends  from  that  state  to 
Michigan  and  Wisconsin ;  and  though  its  lithological 
nature  varies  considerably,  it  is  believed  to  be  well  identi- 
fied. It  belongs  to  the  lower  Silurian  group.  While  it 
contains  a  few  marine  shells,  it  also  affords  specimens  of 
fossil  plants — (Scolithus  linearis)  and  occasional  fragments 
of  anthracite.  Finding  the  flora  and  the  fauna  of  the  an- 
cient earth  thus  associated  in  rocks  of  the  same  age,  we 
may  safely  assume,  for  the  present,  the"  anteriority  of  the 
one  over  the  other.  But  it  may  be  objected  that  the 
grasses,  the  remains  or  fossil  impressions  of  which  are 
thus  found,  are  alg96  or  aqueous  plants,  and  do  not  there- 
fore constitute  the  "  dry  land"  vegetation  of  Moses.  It  so 
happens  that  we  can  afford  to  dispense  with  all  such  ma- 
rine plants,  and  present  something  more  tangible  and  for- 
midable. 

In  casting  our  eye  over  the  innumerable  basins  of  coal, 
lignite,  asphalt,  bitumen,  pitch,  and  various  other  combus- 
tible substances  imbedded  in  the  rocks  of  the  earth,  nothing 
could  more  astonish  us,  than  their  seeming  identity  and 
similarity  of  origin,  under  circumstances  of  extreme  litho- 
logical diversity.  While  the  combustibles  themselves  all 
point  to  a  common  vegetable  source,  they  yet  exhibit  the 
most  singular  and  variable  diversity  in  their  geological 
positions,  in  their  degrees  of  mineralization,  their  density, 
purity,  and  inflammable  properties,  as*  well  as  in  the  local 
circumstances  attending  their  deposition,  and  their  geo- 
graphical distribution. 

There  is  hardly  a  state  or  kingdom  on  the  face  of  the 
earth  that  is  not  provided  with  these  substances,  in  one 
form  or  another ;  and  the  reason  of  this  universal  distri- 
bution may  be  found  in  the  fact,  not  generally  recognized 
or  considered,  that  coal,  with  its  characteristic  deviations 
of  quality,  has  been  produced  in  every  successive  forma- 
tion from  the  metamorphic  rocks  to  those  of  the  Tertiary 


THE   METAMORPHIC   VEGETATION.  f3 

—extending  even  to  the  present  time,  and  is,  without 
doubt,  still  undergoing  the  slow  processes  of  conversion 
from  an  immature  state  to  that  reserved  for  it  hereafter  in 
the  undeviating  economy  of  Nature.  It  is  not  to  be  sup- 
posed that  those  who  come  after  us  are  to  be  left  without 
fuel !  Their  harvest  is  maturing,  while  ours  is  being  con- 
sumed. 

The  "  dry  land"  of  the  metamorphic  and  Silurian  eras 
having  appeared  on  the  morning  of  the  Third  Day,  the 
earth  began  at  once  to  bring  forward  its  vegetation.  This 
consisted,  as  I  before  remarked,  of  nowerless  plants,  de- 
nominated Agamice  (or  concealed  marriage).  And  it  is  a 
singular  coincidence,  which  should  not  escape  observa- 
tion, that  no  means  of  fructification  have  been  discovered 
in  this  species— hence  the  name.  Now,  while  Moses 
speaks  of  the  "seeds  of  the  herb  and  the  fruit  as  being 
within  themselves  in  the  earth,"  he  says  nothing  of  the 
reproductive  organs  of  the  Agamies,  or  grasses,  but  allows 
us  to  infer  their  spontaneous  growth  from  the  dry  land 
itself.  And  such  would  appear  to  be  the  fact.  The  earth 
must  have  contained  within  itself  the  germ  that  gave 
vitality  to  these  grasses,  leaving  the  "herbs  and  fruits"  to 
reproduce  themselves  by  means  of  fructiferous  seeds. 
Brongniart  says  of  the  Agamice,  that  it  is  a  term  which 
only  expresses  our  ignorance — but  that  the  class  com- 
prises the  different  families  confounded  under  the  names 
of  algce,  fungi,  and  lichens.  They  may  be  described  as 
forming  cellular  tissue,  or  interlacing  tubular  filaments, 
without  vessels  properly  so  called ;  they  never  present 
true  leaves,  and  their  organs  of  reproduction  consist  only 
of  very  fine  seedlings,  which  appear  to  develop  them- 
selves without  fecundation,  and  are  immediately  inclosed 
in  membranous  conceptacles,  analogous  to  the  filaments 
of  that  tissue  which  composes  the  whole  of  the  plant. 
The  only  fossil  plants  of  this  class  known,  are  some  con- 


74  THE   THIRD  DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

fervce  (slender  weeds),  and  several  algce  (water- grass  and 
sea-weed).  These  weeds  or  grasses  are  plentifully  dis- 
tributed in  the  shales  of  the  old  red  sandstone.  They  are 
of  rarer  occurrence  in  the  Silurian  strata,  and  have  never 
been  found  in  those  of  the  metamorphic.  The  extreme 
delicacy  of  their  structure,  however,  will  readily  account 
for  their  omission  in  these  rocks.  It  was  only  under  cir- 
cumstances of  repose  and  quiet,  such  as  generally  marked 
the  deposition  of  the  soft  shales  and  mud  of  the  Devonian 
strata,  and  those  underlying  the  coal  seams,  that  their 
preservation  in  a  fossil  state  could  be  secured.  I  have 
several  specimens  of  both  these  grasses  in  my  collection  ; 
and  I  have  seen  thousands  of  them,  all  tangled  up,  upon 
slabs  of  slate  around  the  coal  mines.  Their  general 
structure,  1  repeat,  is  very  similar  to  the  rank  marshy 
grasses  that  flourish  on  the  flats  of  St.  Glair. 

In  Rhode  Island  and  Massachusetts  there  is  a  coal 
basin  of  considerable  extent,  which  occupies  a  geological 
position  among  the  upper  strata  of  the  metamorphic 
group.  The  coal,  no  doubt  originally  very  impure,  has 
been  completely  destroyed  in  consequence  of  the  heat  to 
which  the  inclosing  rocks  were  exposed,  and  the  con- 
tortions and  twisting  which  they  suffered  in  their  ele- 
vation. 

"  In  the  course  of  two  miles  of  the  cliffs  of  the  east  coast, 
the  conglomerate  beds  arje  six  times  thrown  up,  and  as  often 
descend  below  the  tide  level.  Then  occur  a  numerous 
suite  of  twisted  and  contorted  schists,  of  gray  laminated 
slates,  whose  surfaces  singularly  resemble  the  grain  of 
bird's-eye  maple  ;  and  again,  another  series  of  green,  tal- 
cose,  contorted  schists,  crowded  with  crystals  of  iron 
pyrites;  crossed  in  every  direction  by  innumerable  veins 
of  white  quartz,  and  succeeded  by  compacter  beds,  which 
almost  possess  the  qualities  of  sandstone.  Perpendicular 
upthrows  and  heaves,  and  again  the  reverse  movements, 


METAMORPHIC   COAL   OP  RHODE  ISLAND.  75 

divide  the  whole  series  into  large  and  separate  sections, 
rising  above  or  sinking  below  water  level.  The  inclina- 
tion of  the  respective  masses  is.  continually  changing.  To 
the  rocks  we  have  enumerated  succeed  a  melange  of  meta- 
morphic  slates,  of  gray  fissile  beds,  of  conglomerate, 
quartz  veins,  and  black  shales;  of  veins  and  filons  of 
asbestos,  and  of  talcose  laminated  strata;  undulating,  frac- 
tured, contorted,  inverted — in  short,  disposed  with  such 
absence  of  order  as  to  defy  the  pen  and  pencil  of  the 
geologist  to  delineate.  *  *  There  are  many  features 
here  that  have  no  parallel  in  our  ordinary  Secondary 
(Paleozoic  ?)  coal  fields.  Among  these  are  the  vast  as- 
semblage of  talcose  leaving  slates  ;  the  veins  and  seams  of 
asbestos,  abundant  even  among  the  coal  shales,  and  occa- 
sionally penetrating  the  anthracite  coal  itself  j  the  quartz 
veins  also  in  the  coal ;  the  unusual  appearance  of  vege- 
table remains  on  these  greenish-gray,  schistose  laminae ; 
the  traversing  veins  of  white  crystalline  quartz,  and  the 
plumbaginous  nature  of  nearly  all  the  out-crops  of  coal. 
*  *  There  are  three  coal  seams  proved  on  the  western 
side,  occurring  at  a  distance  of  ninety  feet  from  each 
other,  and  dipping  at  an  angle  of  38°  to  the  centre. 
Toward  their  out-crops,  all  the  strata  evince  the  effects  of 
great  pressure  and  squeezing;  producing  corresponding 
irregularities  in  the  thickness  of  the  coal  beds."* 

This  formation  extends  into  the  neighboring  state  of 
Massachusetts.  Its  plumbaginous  character  throughout, 
is  not  devoid  of  interest,  f  At  Wrentham,  in  Massachu- 
setts, are  several  seams  of  highly  plumbaginous  coal.  At 
Mansfield,  Dr.  Jackson  mentions  a  bed  of.  coal  which 
"  was  found  to  have  been  altered,  and  was  like  graphite 
or  plumbago."  At  some  recent  openings  in  Jlhode  Island, 

*  R.  C.  Taj-lor. — Statistics  of  Coal. 
f  Geological  Survey  of  Massachusetts. 


76  THE   THIRD   DAT — GEOLOGICAL. 

the  coal  has  been  observed  to  pass  either  wholly  or  parti- 
ally into  graphite.  It  is  remarkably  light,  spongy,  and 
cellular  (showing  the  effects  of  heat),  and  forms  an  article 
of  sale,  under  the  name  of  British  Lustre.  Asbestos  occurs 
abundantly,  running  through  the  slates  which  adjoin  the 
coal  or  graphite  bed. 

Notwithstanding  the  overwhelming  indications  of  the 
metamorphic  origin  of  this  coal,  some  geologists  of  dis- 
tinction are  disposed  to  rank  it  with  those  lying  upon  the 
Devonian  rocks.  There  are,  however,  some  exceptions ; 
but  how  any  one  of  ordinary  practical  geological  acumen 
can  assign  it  a  position  so  high  up,  with  all  the  rocks  of 
the  previous  group  in  and  around  it,  is  a  mystery  to 
me.  The  whole  formation  is  surrounded  by  granite,  and 
the  veins  of  coal  themselves  are  traversed  by  asbestos, 
talcose  schists,  and  other  true  metamorphic  rocks ;  while 
the  changed  condition  of  the  coal  indicates  the  heat  to 
which  it  was  exposed. 

Nor  is  this  a  solitary  example  of  metamorphic  coal. 
There  are  many  such  formations  in  different  quarters  of 
the  earth ;  and  were  the  coal  which  they  afford  of  any 
commercial  value — were  it  not  converted,  as  it  often  is, 
into  other  substances,  by  the  heat  which  contorted,  twist- 
ed, and  uptilted  the  strata,  there  is  little  doubt  but  that 
the  necessities  or  the  cupidity  of  man  would  long  since 
have  revealed  and  explored  many  other  regions  that  now 
slumber  in  the  original  obscurity  of  their  primitive  basins. 

Some  of  the  anthracite  basins  of  France,  Ireland,  and 
Sweden,  are  in  rocks  analogous  in  age  and  character,  to 
those  of  Rhode  Island.  Throughout  the  greater  part  of 
Scandinavia,  comprising  Sweden,  Norway,  Lapland,  and 
portions  of  Binland,  the  metamorphic  and  igneous  rocks 
abound.  In  the  midst  of  them  occur  basins  of  anthracite, 
and  in  some  cases,  the  coal  is  found  lying  on  the  gneiss 
rock,  with  the  characteristic  metamorphic  slates  above. 


METAMORPHIC   COAL  IN   SCANDINAVIA.  17 

The  coal,  of  course,  is  often  changed  into  graphite,  like 
that  of  Rhode  Island;  while  fragments  are  not  unfre- 
quently  disseminated  in  the  adjacent  slates. 

But  while  the  coal  is  thus  found  in  the  metamorphic 
rocks,  we  must  not  overlook  the  important  fact  that  these 
are  always  in  their  true  geological  position — that  is,  in 
immediate  proximity  to  the  granite  and  igneous  rocks.  If, 
indeed,  they  occurred  in  the  regular  Devonian  or  the  Silurian 
group  their  metamorphic  character  would  of  course  be  se- 
riously compromised ; — but  it  so  happens  that  the  containing 
rocks  of  the  coal  rest  on  the  preceding  igneous  and  gran- 
ite rocks,  and  there  is  thus  established  a  regular  geological 
order.  This  is  particularly  the  case  in  Scandinavia,  where 
it  has  before  been  remarked,  that  the  igneous  rocks  largely 
predominate.  It  is  scarcely  less  so  in  Rhode  Island  and 
Massachusetts — the  adjacent  state  of  New  Hampshire, 
being  celebrated  as  the  "  old  Granite  State."  Indeed,  the 
entire  surface  of  New  England,  with  the  exception  of  a  por- 
tion of  Connecticut,  is  covered  by  the  primitive  rocks ;  and  it 
is  over  these  that  the  coal  basin  of  Rhode  Island  occurs  in 
regular  superimposed  order.  The  same  primitive  rocks  ex- 
tend parallel  with  the  Atlantic  coast,  from  Maine  to  Geor- 
gia ;  and  both  anthracite  and  black  lead  are  found  in  them, 
at  different  places.  The  coal  basin  near  Richmond,  in  Vir- 
ginia, although  resting  on  granite,  is  a  recent  deposit. 
A  scries  of  volcanic  dikes,  during  the  era  of  the  New  Red 
Sandstone,  metamorphosed  a  small  upper  seam  of  the 
coal  in  this  basin,  and  converted  it  into  coke.  The  great 
bulk  of  the  coal  below,  however,  was  unaffected,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  heat  having  been  confined  to  the  surface  alone. 

Inasmuch  as  the  formation  of  coal  from  the  vegetation 
of  the  Paleozoic  period,  or  Third  Day,  constitutes  its  dis- 
tinguishing feature,  it  may  be  considered  advisable  to 
dwell  somewhat  minutely  on  its  interesting  phenomena — 
especially  in  view  of  the  fact,  that  it  forms  debatable 


78  THE  THIRD  DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

ground  in  reconciling  the  accuracy  of  the  Mosaic  cosmog- 
ony, with,  existing  geological  facts  and  theories. 

The  whole  number  of  fossil  species  of  vegetation  thus 
far  found  in  the  strata  of  the  earth,  is  estimated  at  about 
two  thousand,  of  which  more  than  five  hundred  belong  to 
the  coal  measures.  The  very  extensive  mining  operations, 
in  the  coal  basins  of  Europe  and  America,  are  making  con- 
stant additions  to  the  fossils  previously  known.  In  the 
anthracite  measures  of  Pennsylvania,  at  least  two  hundred 
specimens,  previously  unknown,  have  been  discovered 
within  the  last  six  or  eight  years.  In  a  collection  of  seven 
hundred  specimens — (but  many  of  them  duplicates,  and 
referable  to  the  same  species,)  I  have  some  fifty  or  more 
which  appear  to  be  new,  and  undescribed.  In  time,  by 
the  additions  thus  being  made,  the  number  of  distinct  spe- 
cies appertaining  to  the  coal  strata,  must  be  greatly  in- 
creased ;  and  instead  of  five  hundred,  there  will  probably 
be  double  that  number. 

The  fossil  plants,  like  those  of  living  species,  are  va- 
riously classified  by  Botanists,  and  there  is  consequently  a 
good  deal  of  complication  and  confusion  in  dealing  with 
them.  This  appears  to  be  one  of  the  necessary  concomi- 
tants of  all  the  branches  of  Natural  Science,  and  is  per- 
haps the  only  reason  why  they  are  so  much  neglected  by 
the  populai  taste  in  favor  of  other  and  less  practical 
studies.  In  the  sixteenth  century,  the  celebrated  Conrad 
Gessner,  of  Germany,  proposed  a  method  of  botanical 
classification,  founded  on  the  nature  of  the  flower  and 
fruit,  and  the  relation  which  different  species  occupied  to 
the  same  genera.  In  other  words,  he  traced  species  into 
genera,  and  by  this  means  was  enabled  to  describe,  with 
more  intelligence  than  had  ever  been  done  before,  all  the 
plants  known  at  that  time.  Nearly  a  century  afterward, 
an  eminent  French  botanist,  named  Tournefort,  Professor 
of  Botany  in  the  Garden  of  Plants  of  Paris,  wrote  a  work, 


SYSTEMS   OF  BOTANICAL   CLASSIHCATON.  79 

in  which  he  described  over  10,000  species  of  plants,  re- 
solvable into  700  genera.  Among  these  were  several 
thousand  species  entirely  unknown  to  Botany  before, 
having  been  collected  by  Tournefort  during  extensive 
travels  on  the  continent  of  Europe.  In  this  work,  a  new 
and  more  precise  system  of  classification  was  adopted, 
which  gave  to  Botany  the  rank  of  a  distinctive  science. 
In  the  year  1734,  the  celebrated  Linnaeus  appeared,  and 
he  relieved  the  infant  science  of  much  of  the  confusion  of 
nomenclature  that  existed  up  to  that  time.  The  systems 
of  Linnaeus  and  Tournefort  were  both  founded  on  the 
same,  or  a  very  similar  basis — Tournefort  adopting  the 
corolla,  and  Linnaeus  the  stamina,  for  separating  the  lead- 
ing divisions  of  the  classes  of  plants.  By  this  arrange- 
ment, plants  having  one  stamen  were  ranked  under  the 
class  Monandria  ;  plants  having  two  stamens  were  classed 
with  the  Diandria  ;  those  with  three  stamens  belonged  to 
the  third  class,  or  Triandria  ;  those  with  four  stamens  to 
the  fourth  class,  or  Tetrandria,  and  so  on.  The  name 
of  the  class  is  thus  generally  expressive  of  the  position 
the  plants  occupy  in  the  scale — though  there  is  a  little 
obscurity  in  some  of  them.  The  arrangement  was  simple, 
and  for  that  reason  popular ;  but,  with  the  increase  of 
number,  and  the  complication  of  structure  of  the  plants 
themselves,  it  finally  proved  defective.  It  furnished  little 
or  no  information  regarding  the  plants  thus  classified, 
beyond  the  name  of  the  class  to  which  they  belonged.  To 
find  out  their  peculiar  structure,  organization,  and  prop- 
erties, other  means  had  to  be  resorted  to  ;  so  that,  while 
the  systems  were  both  simple  and  beautiful,  they  were  yet 
of  little  practical  value  in  the  identification  of  species. 

Under    these    circumstances   the    system   of   Jussieu 

(embracing  two  or  three  distinguished  botanists  of  that 

name),  called  the  method  of  natural  varieties,  is  that  now 

most  generally  adopted  by  botanists.     It  differs  altogether 

6 


80  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

from 'those  of  Linnaeus  and  Tournefort ; — the  divisions  not 
being  founded  on  a  single  organ,  but  on  a  combination  of 
features  characteristic  of  the  plant  or  family.  Agreeably 
to  this  arrangement,  plants  are  separated  into  two  great 
divisions,  the  first  consisting  (as  previously  mentioned)  of 
such  as  are  composed  entirely  of  cellular  tissue,  are  desti- 
tute of  vessels,  and  whose  embryo  or  germ  has  no 
cotyledons  or  seed  leaves,  whence  they  are  termed  acoty- 
ledonous.  They  are  also  named  cryptogamic,  from  the 
obscurity  of  their  fructification.  The  other  division  is  not 
only  more  numerous,  but  comprises  plants  of  a  higher  and 
more  complicated  structure.  Being  furnished  with  cellular 
tissue  and  tubular  vessels,  and  the  embryo  having  one  or 
more  cotyledons,  or  seed  leaves,  they  are  called  vascular 
or  cotyledonous,  and  are  sub-divided  into  dicotyledonous  or 
exogenous,  and  monocotyledonous,  or  endogenous  classes. 
The  first  class  of  the  cryptogamia  comprise  the  families  of 
confervce  and  algae,  which  have  hitherto  been  referred  to. 
The  next  class,  called  cellular  cryptogamia,  comprise  the 
extensive  family  of  mosses  and  liverworts.  The  third 
class,  vascular  cryptogamice,  includes  the  families  of 
equisetacece,  or  horse  tails  ;  the  ferns,  very  numerous ;  the 
niarsailliaceace,  or  pepperworts ;  the  characecc,  or  charas, 
and  the  lycopodiacece,  or  club-mosses.  A.  fourth  class, 
called  phanerogamce  gymnosperms,  comprises  the  fami- 
lies of  cycadece  and  coniferce,  or  fir  tribes.  The  fifth 
class  constitutes  the  monocoiyledonous  phanerogamic?, 
and  includes  the  families  of  naiades,  of  palms,  of  liliacece 
or  lilies,  and  of  cannece,  or  canes.  The  sixth  and  last 
class,  denominated  dicotyledonous  phanerogamiace,  em- 
brace the-  families  of  amentaceace,  or  the  birch  tribe,  the 
juglandece,  or  walnut,  the  acerinece,  or  sycamore,  and  the 
nympheacece  or  the  water-lily  tribe.  These  families,  it 
may  be  observed,  afford  an  almost  innumerable  variety  of 
individual  types  or  species. 


FOSSILS  OP  THE  COAL.  81 

Of  the  fossil  plants  comprised  under  the  class  ci*ypto~ 
gamice,  and  the  tribe  of  equisetacece,  perhaps  the  most 
numerous  in  the  coal,  are  those  of  the  Galamites.  They 
vary  in  size  from  small  reeds,  not  more  than  the  eighth 
of  an  inch  thick,  to  trunks  two  or  three  feet  in  diameter. 
The  smaller  impressions  leave  a  delicately-polished 
surface  on  the  slates,  and  are  often  strewn  over  each  other 
like  tangled  ribbons.  Their  general  appearance  is  some- 
what similar  to  the  stems  of  Indian  corn,  except  that  they 
are  more  conspicuously  furrowed,  but  like  corn  they  have 
regular  joints  where  the  leaves  were  attached,  which  vary 
only  with  the  age  or  development  of  the  tree.  The 
leaves  were  also  narrow  and  verticillate,  somewhat  in  the 
manner  of  corn  ;  but  they  are  seldom  attached  to  the  stem 
of  the  fossil.  -From  the  fact  that  these  beautiful  fossils 
are  nearly  always  surrounded  by  small  seams  of  coal,  and 
occur  in  great  abundance  in  nearly  every  vein,  there  can 
be  no  doubt  but  that  they  contributed  largely  to  its  forma- 
tion. I  have  found  fine  specimens  of  calamites  in  the  solid 
sandstones,  over  and  under  the  veins  of  coal.  The 
woody  structure  is  always  converted  into  shale,  but  the 
outside  is  coated  with  a  thin  seam  of  pure  coal.  The 
calamites  also  nourished  before  the  deposition  of  the  De- 
vonian coal,  and  became  wholly  extinct  in  the  subsequent 
era  of  the  new  red  sandstone. 

Another  fossil,  very  numerous  in  the  anthracite  regions, 
is  that  of  the  equisetum.  There  are  several  species,  the 
most  common  of  which  is  termed  the  columnare.  They 
have  a  close  resemblance  to  the  larger  calamites,  but  their 
columns  are  not  so  long  and  slender,  and  where  they  are 
interrupted  by  joints,  they  terminate  in  two-sided  pyra- 
mids intersecting  each  other.  The  fossils  indicate  trees 
of  considerable  size,  and  they  are  often  found  surrounded 
by  thin  sheets  of  coal.  They  became  extinct  after 
the  coal,  but  reappeared  in  a  greatly  diminished  form 


82  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

durhlg  the  Tertiary  period,  and  at  this  time  comprise  the 
small  species  of  plants  called  the  horse-tails,  which 
flourish  in  our  ponds  and  river  flats. 

By  far  the  most  numerous,  the  most  beautiful,  and  the 
best-preserved  fossils  in  the  coal  measures,  are  those  of  the 
family  of  ferns.  I  have  more  than  two  hundred  specimens 
in  my  collection,  belonging  to  this  extensive  family. 
Most  of  the  species,  however,  are  only  represented  by 
their  leaves,  or  by  the  slender  stems  to  which  they  were 
attached.  Notwithstanding  their  great  abundance,  I  do 
not  belfeve  their  vegetation  contributed  materially,  if  any 
thing,  to  the  formation  of  the  coal.  I  shall  presently  give 
my  reasons  for  this  opinion,  since,  from  their  abundance 
in  the  coal  measures,  nearly  all  geologists  have  inferred 
that  they  contributed  the  great  bulk  of  the  solid  coal. 

The  fossil  ferns  comprise  the  following  genera,  all  of 
which  are  determined  by  the  character  of  their  leaves  or 
fronds  :  pachypteris,  or  thick  fern  ;  sphenopteris,  or  wedge 
fern  ;  cyclopteris,  or  circular  fern;  glossopteris,  or  tongue- 
shaped  fern;  neuropteris,  or  nerve  fern;  odontopteris,  or 
tooth  fern ;  anomopteriz,  signifying  secret  fern ;  tceniop- 
teris,  or  wreath  fern ;  pecopteris,  of  unknown  significance ; 
longchopteris,  or  spear-shaped ;  schizopleris,  or  divided 
fern ;  otopteris,  resembling  the  ear ;  and  caulopteris,  a 
stem-like  fern. 

Nearly  all  these  varieties  of  the  fern  have  representa- 
tives in  the  coal ;  but  such  is  the  diversity  of  structure 
among  them,  that  a  description  here  would  be  tedious  and 
unprofitable.  Of  the  pecopteris,  there  are  no  less  than 
sixty-two  species,  well  identified,  in  the  coal ;  of  neurop- 
teris, some  forty-three  species  ;  caulopteris,  five  or  six  ;  and 
cyclopteris,  seven.  Most  of  the  others  have  from  one  to 
five  species,  while  a  few  only  are  unrepresented.  Such, 
however,  appear  in  the  subsequent  eras  of  the  new  red 
sandstone,  the  oolite,  and  the  chalk,  and  many,  if  not  all 


CALAMITES — FERNS — LEPIDODENDRONS,  &C.  83 

of  them,  survive  at  the  present  time.  But  all  the  Perns 
now  existing  are  very  small  and  dwarf-like,  while  it  is 
supposed  that  those  of  the  coal  attained  the  proportions 
of  ordinary  young  forest  trees.  This,  however,  in  my 
opinion,  is  very  much  exaggerated. 

The  next  family  is  that  of  the  Lycopodiacece,  or  the 
Club-mosses.  These  are  well  represented  in  the  coal,  and 
comprise  a  series  of  very  beautiful  and  interesting  fossils. 
I  have  twenty-five  or  more  specimens,  representing  as 
many  different  species.  The  most  numerous  are  those  of 
the  Lepidodendrons,  or  scaly  tree — so  called  from  the  im- 
bricated structure  of  the  bark,  or  their  resemblance  to  the 
scales  of  fish.  These  trees  may  indeed  be  allied,  as  the 
botanists  allege,  to  the  club-mosses  of  the  present  day ; 
but  it  seems  to  me  that  a  closer  relation  exists  between 
them  and  our  existing  yellow  pities.  Were  the  tender 
shoots  of  these  pines,  or  those  of  from  one  to  ten  years 
old,  buried  in  mud,  and  then  subjected  to  heat  and  pres- 
sure, they  would  stamp  impressions  on  the  baked  slate 
exactly  similar  to  those  of  certain  species  of  the  fossil 
Lepidodendrons.  In  both  cases,  the  imbricated  scales 
and  scars  were  produced  by  the  detached  leaves,  or  nee- 
dles, which  originally  surrounded  the  stem  in  regular 
order.  The  interior  of  the  conical  scales  or  lines  is  some- 
times very  curious— the  leaf-dots  hanging  like  miniature 
chandeliers  by  means  of  little  threads  or  chains.  The 
scars  assumed  their  rhomboidal  form  in  consequence  of 
the  bulging  out  of  the  leaf-stalk,  and  the  lines  that  would 
otherwise  have  been  continuous,  straight,  and  parallel, 
like  the  ribs  of  Sigillaria,  are  thus  forced  apart  at  intervals, 
and  then  again  united.  The  variation  in  the  structure  of 
these  rhomboidal  cavities  or  scales,  is  due  to  the  varying 
dimensions  and  age  of  the  tree.  In  the  young  ones  they 
are  small  and  close  together,  and  the  lines  describe  regu- 
lar angles ;  but  with  the  increased  thickness  of  the  bark, 


84  THE   THIRD   DAY— GEOLOGICAL. 

and  the  expansion  of  the  tree,  they  grew  larger  and  larger, 
and  always  varied  with  the  species. 

The  Lycopodites  are  smaller  than  the  Lepidodendrons, 
and  had  their  leaves  attached  to  the  stem  in  two  opposite 
rows,  leaving  obscure  parallel  scars  in  the  fossil,  after  it 
became  flattened  by  pressure.  The  stem  of  the  TJloden- 
dron  is  covered  with  rhomboidal  plates,  broader  than  long, 
in  the  interior  of  which,  or  on  the  raised  surface  of  the 
fossil,  as  the  case  may  be  (for  there  are  always  two  casts 
to  every  fossil),  are  large  scars,  the  whole  being  very 
similar  to  the  cones  of  pine  trees.'  The  Lepidostrobus 
is  an  ovate  or  cylindrical  cone,  composed  of  imbricated 
scales,  encircling  a  woody  axis,  the  seeds  of  which  are 
oblong  and  solitary.  There  is  some  dispute  among 
botanists  in  regard  to  these  cones.  Some  twenty  speci- 
mens in  my  collection  are  exactly  similar  to  those  of  cer- 
tain species  of  pine  ;  and,  although  the  classification  seems 
to  forbid  it,  I  cannot  help  believing  that  all  these  fossils 
appertain  to  the  family  of  resinous  pines  existing  at  the t 
present  time,  and  that  they  formed  by  far  the  largest  por- 
tion of  the  material  of  which  the  coal  is  composed.  The 
whole  family  of  Lycopodiacece  disappeared  after  the  depo- 
sition of  the  coal ;  but  it  is  supposed  that  they  are  repre- 
sented by  the  club-mosses  of  the  present  era — a  proposition 
which,  at  least,  admits  of  considerable  doubt. 

It  is  a  singular  fa-ct,  that  the  most  abundant  and  the 
most  important  and  conspicuous  fossil  in  the  coal  meas- 
ures is  that  of  which  the  least  is  known.  This  is  the 
family  of  Sigillaria.  Fossil  botanists  claim  forty  different 
species  in  the  coal.  I  have  at  least  that  number  in  my 
collection,  among  which  are  several  new  species  not  yet 
named  or  classified.  There  can  be  no  doubt  whatever 
but  that  these  trees,  with  those  just  mentioned,  furnished 
the  great  bulk  of  the  coal.  They  grew  to  enormous 
dimensions,  rivaling  the  venerable  pines  of  our  forests. 


SIGILLARIA   PREDOMINANT    IN   COAL.  85 

Their  fossils  sometimes  occur  in  the  shales  over  the  coal 
for  a  continuous  length  of  eighty  or  a  hundred  feet ;  and 
I  have  often  seen  slabs  from  three  to  six  feet  wide,  en- 
tirely covered  with  their  deep  parallel  furrows.  I  have 
never  yet  met  a  specimen  of  Sigillaria  that  was  riot  coated 
and  surrounded  with  thin  sheets  of  coal.  They  were 
formerly  assigned  a  doubtful  position  in  botanical  classifi- 
cation, or  a  position  intermediate  between  the  divisions 
of  Cryptogams  and  Monocotyledons  ;  but  recent  investi- 
gations seem  to  justify  their  association  with  the  Dicotyle- 
dons. I  can  venture  no  opinion  as  to  the  rank  to  which 
they  are  entitled  ;  but  I  am  very  certain  that  all  of  them 
secreted  resinous  or  oily  juices,  and  that  they  were  so  far 
Dicotyledons  as  to  resemble  existing  species  of  the  pine. 
The  Sigillaria  were  conical  trees,  the  bark  of  which  was 
deeply  furrowed  and  ribbed.  These  ribs  are  from  an 
eighth  of  an  inch  to  two  inches  apart,  and  run  parallel 
with  each  other,  lengthwise  with  the  tree.  Between  theV.  » 
ribs,  in  the  concave  furrows,  are  scars  at  regular  intervals. 
From  the  resemblance  these  scars  bear  to  the  stamp  of  a  j 
seal,  in  sealing-wax,  they  are  called  Sigillaria.  The  fur-  ' 
rows  vary  in  width,  as  well  as  the  space  between  the 
scars,  in  proportion  to  the  dimensions  of  the  tree.  The 
scars  are  the  marks  left  by  the  leaves  after  they  had  be- 
come detached  ;  and  this  is  a  characteristic  of  all  resinous 
pine  trees — the  leaves  of  one  year  falling  off  when  those 
of  a  new  year  appear.  In  this  respect,  the  Lepidodendria, 
the  Sigillaria,  and  perhaps  the  Stigmaria,  all  resemble  the 
pines  of  the  present  era.  The  scars  of  the  Sigillaria  vary 
in  different  species.  Sometimes  they  are  round,  or  rhorn- 
boidal ;  sometimes  there  are  two,  closely  attached,  and 
forming  a  heart ;  sometimes  they  are  long  and  slender,  or 
consist  of  two  little  dots,  in  the  same  scar ;  sometimes  the 
scars  are  half-covered  by  an  arching  roof,  or  are  sur- 
rounded by  circular  indentations.  Again,  there  are  oc- 


86  THE   THI^J)  DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

casionally  two  circles,  one  on  top  of  the  other,  and  the 
leaf  dot  upon  the  last.  Sometimes  the  scars  are  placed 
in  arching  cavities,  like  eyes ;  while  in  others,  the  ribs  are 
omitted,  and  the  dots  are  surrounded  with  delicate  lines, 
radiating  as  from  a  central  nucleus,  or  waving  around 
them  in  graceful  curves.  The  fossils  are  invariably  highly 
sculptured,  and  constitute  by  far  the  most  varied,  im- 
portant, and  interesting  class  of  the  ancient  flora.  The 
Sigillaria  made  their  first  and  last  appearance  during  the 
coal  period.  And  the  fact  is  not  .without  significance, 
that  the  three  principal  classes  of  the  coal  vegetation,  viz., 
the  Calamites,  the  Lepidodendria,  and  the  Sigillaria,  are 
all  confined  to  that  era — a  mere  trace  only  of  the  former 
appearing  in  the  new  red  sandstone. 

Besides  the  Sigillaria,  there  is  another  genus,  termed 
Volkmannia,  of  doubtful  affinity.  They  are  leaves,  with 
a  striated  stem,  and  articulated ;  and  are  usually  found  in 
large  whorls.  They  are  supposed  to  be  leaves  of  the  cala- 
mite,  but  I  think  this  exceedingly  doubtful.  Under  the 
name  of  Carpotithes,  are  included  all  the  fruits  of  the  an- 
cient earth,  for  which  no  specific  names  are  provided. 
These  are  scarce  in  the  coal,  as  might  be  readily  inferred 
from  the  character  of  the  vegetation.  I  have  two  very 
fine  specimens,  however,  which  resemble  the  chestnuts  of 
our  forests.  I  have  frequently  noticed  an  obscure  fossil, 
varying  in  size  from  a  chestnut  to  a  walnut,  but  much  flat- 
tened, which  may  be  a  fruit.  The  surface  is  always  very 
smooth  and  shining,  and  the  only  feature  which  distin- 
guishes it  from  a  leaf  is  its  thickness.  I  have  also  speci- 
mens of  a  fruit,  which  is  perfectly  round,  and  the  interior 
exhibits  a  dotted  or  cellular  structure.  These  are  an  inch 
and  a  quarter  in  diameter,  and  resemble  the  large  ink-balls 
of  the  oak  more  than  any  thing  else  that  I  can  now  think  of. 

Of  plants  of  the  true  Monocotyledonous  class,  there  are 
comparatively  few  in  the  coal.  Of  the  palm  family,  the 


FOSSIL  PLANTS  IN    THE   C0.1L.  81 

leaves  of  the  Flabellaria  occur  sparingly.  They  are  peti- 
olate  and  fan-shaped,  contracting  arid  plaited  at  their  base. 
The  N&ggeraihia,  are  more  numerous — five  or  six  species 
having  been  found.  They  are  also  petiolate  and  pin- 
nated ;  leaflets  obovate  and  neariy  cuneiform  against  the 
edges  of  the  petiole,  but  toothed  toward  the  apex,  with 
fine  diverging  veins.  Zeugophyltites  is  another  genus,  of 
which  two  species  are  known  in  the  coal.  They  are  de- 
scribed as  petiolated,  pinnated;  leaflets  opposite,  oblong, 
or  oval,  entire,  with  a, few  strongly-marked  ribs,  confluent 
at  the  base  and  summit,  and  all  of  equal  thickness.  The 
Sternbergia  is  a  slender,  naked,  and  cylindrical  stem,  ter- 
minating in  a  cone,  marked  by  transverse  furrows,  but 
with  no  articulations.  There  are  three  or  four  species  in 
the  coal ;  but  they  are  of  doubtful  affinity  in  botanical  ar- 
rangement. Poacites  are  all  monocotyledonous  leaves, 
with  parallel  veins,  simple  and  of  equal  thickness,  but  not 
connected  by  transverse  bars.  There  are  several  species 
in  the  coal.  Of  fruits,  there  are  two  species  of  Trigono- 
carpum,  and  two  of  Musocarpum.  So  far  as  known,  these 
are  the  only  species  in  the  coal  measures,  properly  belong- 
ing to  the  division  of  Monocotyledons ;  but  the  seplants 
were  very  numerously  represented  during  the  Tertiary  pe- 
riod by  the  families  of  Palms,  Zostera,  and  Naides,  and 
by  more  than  one  thousand  living  species  at  the  present 
time.  They  flourish  best  in  tropical  climates,  and  com- 
prise the  great  bulk  of  the  vegetation  of  those  regions. 

Intermediate  between  the  Monocotyledon  and  the 
Dicotyledon  divisions,  are  a  few  families  of  doubtful  affin- 
ity, but  of  considerable  abundance  in  the  coal.  The  As- 
terophy Idles  have  stems  scarcely  tumid  at  the  articulations, 
but  branching;  leaves  verticillate,  linear,  and  acute,  with 
a  single  midrib,  quite  distinct  at  the  base ;  fruit,  a  one- 
Beeded  ovate,  compressed,  nucule,  bordered  by  a  membra- 
nous wing,  and  ernarginate  at  the  apex.  Twelve  species 


88  THE   THIRD  DAT — GEOLOGICAL. 

occur  in  the  coal ;  and  they  are  not  confined,  a&  Mr.  Les- 
quereux  says,  in  the  Geological  Report  of  Pennsylvania, 
"to  the  upper  coals."  They  are  found  in  nearly  every 
vein  where  other  fossils  abound,  without  regard  to  "  high 
or  low  coal."  The  Annularia  is  a  family  which  includes 
some  beautiful  fossils,  some  of  which  resemble  the  Astero- 
phyllites.  The  stem  contains  numerous  clusters  of  leaves, 
which  radiate  around  it  in  the  form  of  a  star.  The  stem 
is  slender  and  fragile,  articulated,  and  has  opposite  branches 
springing  out  from  above  the  leaves.  The  leaves  are  ver- 
ticillate,  flat,  usually  obtuse,  with  a  single  midrib  united 
at  the  base,  of  unequal  length.  There  are  six  or  eight 
species  in  the  coal.  The  Phyllothera  have  a  simple, 
straight,  articulated  stem,  surrounded  at  regular  distances 
by  a  sheath,  having  long  linear  leaves,  which  have  no  dis- 
tinct midrib.  There  is  but  one  species  in  the  coal.  Be- 
china  have  a  branched,  jointed  and  articulated  stem,  deeply 
and  widely  furrowed;  the  leaves  are  verticillate,  very  nar- 
row, acute,  and  ribless.  One  species  only  in  the  coal. 
These  plants  may,  perhaps,  be  ranked  as  CycadaB, — and  if 
so,  they  constitute  the  only  representatives  of  that  group 
in  the  coal.  They  diminished  in  the  new  red  sandstone, 
and  increased  during  the  Oolitic  era ;  they  again  decreased, 
and.  nearly  became  extinguished  in  the  Cretaceous,  but 
again  expanded,  greater  than  before,  in  the  upper  Tertiary. 
They  now  threw  out  several  lateral  brandies,  which  in- 
cludes the  families  of  Poplars,  "Willows,  Elms,  Sycamores, 
Magnolias,  Oaks,  Birches,  Maples,  and  numerous  other 
trees  of  existing  forests. 

Among  the  other  branches  or  families  of  the  Dicotyle- 
dons, there  are  but  two  or  three  represented  in  flie  coal — 
but  they  constitute  the  most  important  sources  of  its 
vegetable  material.  Of  these,  the  Euphorbiacece  is  repre- 
sented by  the  Stigmaria.  This  is  described  by  botanists 


FOSSIL   COAL  PLANTS — STIGMARIA.  89 

i 

as  having  a  stem  originally  succulent,  and  marked  exter- 
nally by  roundish  tubercles  or  scars,  surrounded  by  a 
hollow,  and  arranged  in  a  direction  more  or  less  spiral, 
having  internally  a  woody  axis,  which  communicates 
with  the  tubercles  by  woody  processes.  The  leaves 
arising  from  the  tubercles  are  succulent,  entire,  and  vein- 
less,  except  in  the  centre,  where  there  is  often  some  trace 
of  a  midrib.  There  are  five  or  six  species  in  the  coal.  I 
may  add  to  this  botanical  description,  that  the  Stigmaria 
is  almost  invariably, — in  fact,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able 
to  observe,  I  may  say,  without  qualification,  it  is  invari- 
ably found  in  the  slates  underlaying  the  veins  of  coal. 
Mr.  Lesquereux,  however,  is  of  a  different  opinion,  and 
says  that  he  found  them  somewhat  plentifully  in  the  top 
slates  of  the  mammoth  vein  at  Minersville,  and  in  the 
roof  of  the  South  Salem  vein  at  Pottsville.  I  must  beg 
leave  to  say  to  Mr.  Lesquereux,  that  there  is  no  mammoth 
vein  at  Minersville,  or,  rather,  that  it  does  not  outcrop, 
and  has  never  been  worked  there.  The  nearest  white  ash 
coals  to  Minersville  are  those  of  Wolf  Creek,  at  which 
place  the  so-called  mammoth  vein  is  divided  into  two  or 
three  distinct  veins.  It  therefore  has  no  existence  at  or 
near  Minersville.  Although  it  could  not,  therefore,  have 
been  the  mammoth  vein  to  which  he  alludes,  it  does  not 
follow  that  he  is  mistaken  as  to  finding  the  Stigmaria  in 
the  top  slates.  But  when  he  speaks  of  finding  them  in 
the  South  Salem  vein  at  Pottsville,  another  doubt  arises. 
The  south  veins  of  the  red  ash  coals,  in  the  Sharp 
Mountain,  at  Pottsville,  are  tilted  over ;  and  that  which 
was  originally  the  bottom  slate  is  now  the  top  slate.  It  is 
thereforevvery  natural  to  find  the  Stigmaria  in  what  seems 
to  be  the  top  slate  of  these  veins,  but,  in  reality,  they  are 
in  the  original  bottom  slate,  where  they  grew ;  and  it  so 
happens  that  they  there  occur  in  extraordinary  abundance 


90  THE   THIRD   BAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

• — they  are,  in  fact,  the  prevailing  fossils  on  the  slope  of 
the  Sharp  Mountain.* 

Some  geologists  have  suggested  that  the  Stigmaria  are 
the  roots  of  the  Sigillaria.  It  may  be  remarked,  in  sup- 
port of  this  view,  that  the  slate  in  which  the  Stigmaria 
are  found,  is  materially  different  from  that  inclosing  the 
Sigillaria.  The  bottom  slate  of  all  coal  veins  is  baked 
mud  and  clay,  and,  on  exposure  to  the  air,  it  decomposes 
into  irregular  lumps.  That  of  the  top,  and  overlying  the 
coal,  is  invariably  laminated,  and  readily  splits  into  thin 
sheets  and  slabs.  Now,  the  tree  may  have  had  its  roots 
in  the  bottom  shale,  and  after  the  deposition  of  the  coal, 
when  it  fell  to  the  ground,  the  top  slate,  in  the  form  of 
sediment  and  silt,  may  have  buried  the  trunk  and  its 
branches — leaving  the  vein  of  coal  between  them.  I  have 
occasionally  noticed,  at  the  coal  mines,  what  appeared  to 
be  the  stumps  and  roots  of  the  Stigmaria ;  but  I  never 
could  discover  any  traces  or  tendency  to  pass  into  Sigil- 
laria. The  characters  of  the  two  families,  considered  as 
fossils,  appear  to  be  distinct.  The  Stigmaria,  unlike 
many  other  fossils,  is  often  surrounded  by  leaves,  which 
branch  out  from  the  stem  a  distance  of  from  four  to  ten 
inches.  These  leaves  are  spear-shaped,  soft,  and  succu- 
lent. Some  persons  have  styled  them  rootlets  ;  but,  if  so, 
it  seems  preposterous  that  they  should  have  served  to  sup- 
port such  gigantic  trees  as  the  Sigillaria.  I  have  several 
specimens  of  Stigmaria,  deprived  of  these  leaves,  which 
I  cut  out  of  solid  sandstone.  It  is  not  possible  that  they 
could  have  grown  there — or  at  least  not  lively.  One  or 
two  specimens  of  the  stem  are  converted  ioto  finely  com- 
minuted sandstone.  I  think  it  very  likely  from  what  I 

*  Mr.  L.  may,  however,  have  reference  to  the  old  Sal*-»  Slopes  near 
Pottsville,  abandoned  many  years  ago.  xlf  so,  I  have  only  ta  «ay  that  I 
have  never  detected  the  Sdgtrsaria  among  the  cha-rac  ton  stir1  t'wssils  of 
that  vein. 


FOSSIL   PLANTS   OP   THE   COAL.  91 

have  seen  of  it,  that  this  plant  was  a  species  of  vine, 
which  flourished  in  the  soft  mud  and  marshes  in  imme- 
diate proximity  to  the  coal  basins,  and  was  thus  liable  to 
be  buried  beneath  the  veins  of  coal,  where  we  now  find 
it.  This  view  is  supported  by  the  observations  of  several 
persons  in  the  mining  regions  of  England,  and  is  only 
contradicted  by  the  mistaken  inferences  of  theoretical 
speculators  in  Geology  and  Paleontology. 

Of  Coniferae,  there  are  several  families  in  the  coal.  The 
Pinites  have  axes  composed  of  pith  wood  in  concentric 
circles,  bark,  and  medullary  rays,  but  with  no  vessels  ;  walls 
of  the  woody  fibre  reticulated.  There  are  three  or  four 
species  in  the  coal,  but  the  wood  only  is  known.  The 
Auraucaria  have  axes  composed  also  of  pith  wood,  in 
concentric  circles,  bark,  and  medullary  rays.  Sphen- 
ophyllum  have  branches  deeply  furrowed  ;  leaves  verticil- 
late  and  wedge-shaped,  with  dichotomous  veins.  There 
are  ten  species  in  the  coal.  The  Coniferous  plants  flour- 
ished to  a  very  great  extent  in  the  coal,  as  well  as  in  the 
new  red  sandstone  and  the  oolite.  They  disappeared 
during  the  cretaceous  era,  but  came  forward  in  great 
abundance  in  the  upper  Tertiary.  They  are  now  repre- 
sented by  the  extensive  family  of  the  pines,  and  flourish 
all  over  the  world,  in  cold  as  well  as  warm  climates. 

We  have  thus  briefly  glanced  at  the  leading  families  of 
the  vegetation  which  furnished  the  material  of  which  coal 
is  composed.  There  are  a  great  number  and  many  varie- 
ties of  species  which  it  would  be  tedious  and  useless  to 
describe  here,  since  they  are  nearly  all  comprehended  in 
the  classes  already  specified.  Thousands  of  leaves,  stems, 
fruits,  and  flowers  occur  in  fragments  and  matted  heaps 
in  the  slates  that  accompany  the  coal.;  and  although  the 
internal  structure  and  woody  fibre  have  been  compressed 
and  superseded,  or  changed  into  shale,  the  pitch  or  oil 
which  permeated  the  pores  of  the  plant  has  glued  them  to 


92  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

the  slates,  and  thereby  imprinted  their  external  characters 
as  distinctly  as  an  engraving  or  lithograph  on  a  sheet  of 
paper.  The  comparative  anatomist  is  often  compelled  to 
identify  animal  species  by  an  isolated  tooth  or  a  frag- 
mentary bone.  In  like  manner,  the  fossil  botanist  has 
sometimes  to  rely  upon  a  scattered  leaf  or  an  altered  woody 
structure ;  yet,  so  regular  and  undeviating  is  Nature  in 
all  her  works,  that  the  sequel  frequently  establishes  the 
correctness  of  scientific  generalization,  notwithstanding 
the  obscure  data  on  which,  in  such  cases,  he  is  compelled 
to  rely.  Nor  can  we,  in  view  of  their  bearing  upon  the 
past  history  of  the  earth,  regard  these  magnificent  fossils 
as  the  result  of  accidental  circumstances.  There  are  hun 
dreds  of  coal  basins  distributed  over  the  surface  of  the 
earth,  and  these  fossils  invariably  occur  in  all  of  them. 
They  are  therefore  too  wide-spread  and  universal  to  be 
regarded  as  accidental,  either  in  the  manner  of  their  de- 
posit or  their  preservation.  All  the  works  .of  Nature  be- 
tray a  design — an  intellectual  plan  ;  and  what  we  some- 
times regard  as  deviations  or  apparent  contradictions  of 
harmony  and  uniformity,  only  expose  the  feebleness  of 
our  faculties  of  analogy  and  perception.  The  hieroglyphics 
of  Egypt,  Nineveh,  and  Babylon,  inscribed  on  the  marble 
panels  of  their  ruined  palaces,  obelisks,  and  catacombs, 
are  perhaps  the  most  ancient  memorials  of  the  human  race 
that  have  been  transmitted  to  succeeding  ages.  And 
what  is  the*noral  lesson  which  they  teach  ?  Simply  that 
the  sculptured  rocks  record  faithfully  the  vanity,  folly, 
and  ambition  of  nations  and  of  individuals,  and  survive 
the  evanescent  glory  of  both  !  They  tell  us  that  the  spoils- 
of  victory — the  dignities  of  office — the  gains  of  craft ; — 
the  buoyancy  of  youth,  and  the  severity  of  age ; — the 
fears  of  the  wicked,  the  pains  of  the  afflicted,  the  chains 
of  the  enslaved — that  all  the  pride,  and  power,  and  majesty 
of  long  lines  of  kings,  are  wholly  obliterated  in  the  dust 


FOSSILS   THE   RECORD   OP   GOD'S   WORK.  93 

of  their  bones,  leaving  not  a  vestige  behind  but  the  pol- 
ished stones  upon  which  they  carved  their  names — faith- 
ful but  melancholy  sentinels  on  the  frontiers  of  the  Past, 
to  tell  marching  years  the  story  of  their  passing  away ! 
And  such,  in  some  respects,  are  these  wonderful  fossils ; 
but  they  bear  no  such  miserable  comment.  Instead  of 
adding  to  the  posthumous  glory  of  man,  they  reveal  the 
majesty  of  the  living  God  !  They  perpetuate  no  local  or 
ordinary  event ;  they  do  not  speak  of  war,  and  captives, 
and  blood  ; — but  they  exhibit  pictures  of  the  young  earth, 
when  the  creative  volition  of  the  great  Architect  was  first 
displayed.  They  are  the  picturescripts,  the  universal 
hieroglyphics,  of  Nature,  and  record  the  wise  fore- 
thought and  the  unsolicited  benevolence  of  the  great 
Jehovah ! 

While  we  might  naturally  expect  some  diversity  of 
opinion  regarding  the  character  of  the  vegetation  the  re- 
mains of  which  have  been  thus  preserved  in  the  crust  of 
the  earth,  there  is  an  equal  if  not  a  greater  conflict  of  opin- 
ion as  to  how  it  was  accumulated  into  separate  seams,  and 
thence  transformed  into  mineral  coal.  The  geological  the- 
ories cannot  all  be  correct;  but  it  may  be  safely  assumed 
that  a  certain  amount  of  probability  appertains  to  each, 
since  they  are  all  based  on  the  vegetable  origin  "of  the  coal 
itself.  The  theories  may  be  divided  into  two  leading  di- 
visions,— the  first  comprising  the  Peat-bog  Theory  and 
the  other  the  Estuary,  or  Drift  Theory.  There  are  others 
intermediate  between  these,  or  partaking  of  some  of  the 
features  of  both,  which  we  shall  notice. 

The  Peat-bog  theory  contemplates  an  extensive  level 
marsh,  traversed  by  numerous  springs  of  water,  or  its 
permeation  by  the  waters  of  an  adjacent  river  or  ocean. 
During  the  coal  period,  it  is  inferred  that  such  marshes 
supported  a  luxuriant  vegetation  of  the  character  already 
mentioned ;  that  successive  crops  of  such  vegetation  fall 


94  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

down  and  were  buried  in  the  bogs ;  that  after  the  accu- 
mulation of  a  great  stratum  of  carbonaceous  matter,  con- 
sisting of  arborescent  plants,  leaves,  and  grasses,  the  bog 
was  overflowed  by  the  adjacent  sea,  the  waters  of  which 
deposited  over  it  layers  of  mud  and  silt,  which  now  con- 
tain the  fossils,  and  then  successive  layers  of  sandstone, 
(or  limestone,)  and  clay,  and  shale.  The  solid  trunks  and 
woody  fibre  thus  buried  between  layers  of  sand,  gravel 
and  mud,  which  afterward  hardened,  caused  fermentation 
to  ensue  in  the  vegetable  material,  thereby  converting 
it  into  a  species  of  lignite ;  and  the  continuance  of  pres- 
sure and  fermentation,  finally  resolved  it  into  bituminous 
coal.  After  the  first  seam  of  coal  had  been  thus  deposited, 
the  waters  of  the  sea  were  withdrawn,  and  another  peat 
bog  was  again  commenced,  precisely  as  before.  There 
being  in  some  coal  basins,  as  many  as  from  sixty  to  one 
hundred  distinct  and  separate  seams  of  coal,  it  is  necessary 
to  suppose,  on  the  basis  of  this  theory,  that  the  sea  over- 
whelmed the  successive  layers  of  peat  in  the  order  in  which 
they  were  accumulated.  The  idea  of  such  regular  and  pe- 
riodical invasions  of  the  adjacent  sea,  is  rather  too  stu- 
pendous to  be  seriously  entertained.  But  granting  the 
probability  of  the  thing,  is  it  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
the  vegetation,  scattered  about  in  irregular  heaps  of  trees 
and  stumps,  and  leaves,  should  be  reduced  to  a  uniform 
level  over  the  bog,  and  the  mud  evenly  deposited  over  it, 
without  intermixing  and  ramifying  the  pores  and  layers 
of  the  peat  ?  If  the  peat,  before  the  invasion  of  the  sea, 
had  already  assumed  the  external  form  of  a  smooth  and 
compact  layer,  then  the  sediment  might  not  so  readily 
have  intermixed;  but  if  such  a  seam  had  been  previously 
formed,  how  are  we  to  account  for  the  splitting  of  nume- 
rous coal  veins,  and  their  reunion  at  irregular  intervals  ? 
This  is  a  phenomenon  well  known  to  practical  miners,  but 
seldom  contemplated  by  theoretical  geologists.  A  vein  of 


THEORIES  OF   THE   DEPOSITION   OF   COAL   VEINS.          96 

coal  which  is  at  one  point  ten  feet  thick,  at  another  may 
be  but  five  feet.  This  may  be  explained  thus ;  the  seam 
of  coal  parts  in  the  middle,  by  the  intrusion  of  a  sandstone 
or  other  rock,  and  thus  forms  two  apparently  distinct  seams 
of  coal.  The  space  between  them  often  expands  from 
twenty  to  eighty  yards,  and  may  continue  for  many  miles 
before  they  again  converge  to  each  other.  The  same  di- 
vision often  occurs  on  sinking  downward  through  a 
vein — expanding  and  contracting,  as  the  case  may  be,  in 
every  direction  in  which  it  is  pursued,  and  varying  from 
a  mere  thin  slaty  wedge,  to  coarse,  well-defined,  sedimen- 
tary rocks.  Now,  all  this  is  incompatible  with  the  idea 
of  a  periodical  submergence  of  the  peat-bogs,  because  the 
veins  thus  separated  are  made  to  undulate  with  the 
contraction  and  expansion  of  the  wedges  of  rock  between 
them — whereas,  it  is  necessary  to  premise,  on  the  basis  of 
this  hypothesis,  that  the  floor  of  the  bog  was  al\N%ys  per- 
fectly level.  But,  whether  level  or  not,  if  the  sea  over- 
flowed the  bog,  it  would  scatter  its  sediment  equally,  and 
not  leave  isolated  deposits  from  twenty  to  one  hundred 
yards  high  at  one  place,  and  no  sediment  whatever  at  the 
other  places. 

The  Estuary,  or  Drift  Theory,  is  mainly  founded  on  the 
objections  arising  against  the  other — that  is  to  say,  the 
utter  improbability  of  the  repeated  invasions  of  the  sea 
and  adjacent  fresh  waters  to  deposit  the  rocks  that  alter- 
nate with  the  coal  seams.  To  account  more  satisfactorily, 
therefore,  for  the  interposition  of  these  rocks,  ft  is  sup- 
posed that  the  vegetation  was  transported  by  rivers  from 
the  beds  where  it  grew,  and  deposited  in  the  basins  or 
estuaries  formed  at  their  junction  with  the  sea.  On  this 
hypothesis,  the  alternation  of  marine  and  fresh-water 
deposits,  between  the  veins  of  coal,  is  easily  accounted 
for ;  but  the  liability  of  the  loose  and  fragmentary  material 
of  the  vegetation  to  become  intermixed  with  the  mud  and 


96  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOG1JAL. 

sediment  held  in  suspension  by  the  water,  and  thus  to 
destroy  the  purity  of  the  coal,  is  an  overwhelming  and  a 
fatal  objection.  The  greafr  rafts  of  logs  and  leaves,  as 
they  were  hurried  on  to  the  sea,  would  become  coated 
and  surrounded  by  mud ;  and,  as  they  gradually  sunk  to 
the  bottom,  they  would  be  still  further  involved  in  it 
But  as  trees  and  stumps  have  been  found  in  an  erect  posi- 
tion, under  and  immediately  above  veins  of  coal,  it  is 
inferred  that  they  never  could  have  been  transported  in 
this  manner ;  and  geologists  have  therefore  been  gradu- 
ally abandoning  the  theory.  In  Nova  Scotia,  Professors 
Darwin  and  Lyell  have  detected  sixty  planes  of  successive 
vegetation  among  the  strata  of  that  region  ;  and  in  some 
of  these  planes  they  found  fossil  trees,  in  an  erect  posi- 
tion, and  in  others  the  stumps  and  roots  of  Stigmaria. 
These  planes  of  vegetation  conform  to  the  stratification 
of  the  inclosing  rocks,  which  lean  at  an  angle  of  about  30° 
to  the  horizon.  Mr.  Hawkshaw,  of  England,  in  1839, 
described  five  fossil  trees  discovered  in  a  cutting  on  the 
Manchester  and  Bolton  Railroad.  These  trees  stood  erect 
over  a  bed  of  coal  eight  inches  thick.  The  largest  meas- 
ured five  feet  in  diameter  at  the  base,  and  was  eleven  feet 
high.  He  conceived  it  probable  that  the  trees  grew 
where  they  were  found.  In  a  subsequent  paper,  after 
having  found  another  fossil  tree,  standing  over  the  same 
coal  seam,  Mr.  Hawkshaw  observes  :  "  If  the  coal  be  con- 
sidered as  the  debris  of  a  forest,  it  is  difficult  to  account 
for  not  finding  more  trunks  of  trees  than  have  been  dis- 
covered in  our  coal  basins ;  and  it  is  only,  perhaps,  by 
allowing  the  original  of  our  coal  seams  to  have  been  a 
combination  of  vegetable  matter,  analogous  to  peat,  that 
the  difficulty  can  be  solved."  After  Mr.  Hawkshaw's 
first  communication,  Mr.  Beaumont,  in  a  paper  read  to 
tho  Geological  Society  of  London,  upon  t^ie  subject  of  the 
same  trees,  states  several  objections  to  the  Drift  Theory 


DRIFT   THEORY — PEAT-BOG   THEORY.  9T 

of  Coal,  and  conceives  that  the  vegetation  grew  where  it 
is  found.  He  thinks  that  it  must  have  flourished  on 
swampy  islands,  and  consisted  principally  of  ferns,  cala- 
mites,  coniferous,  and  other  trees,  which  operated,  through 
their  decay  and  regeneration,  to  form  peat-bogs ;  and  that 
the  islands,  by  subsiding,  were  covered  over  with  drifted 
sand,  clay,  and  shells,  till  they  again  became  dry  land, 
and  supported  another  vegetation ;  and  this  process,  he 
supposes,  was  repeated  as  often  as  there  are  coal  seams  ! 
Dr.  Buckland,  in  commenting  on  this  hypothesis,  observes 
that  "  in  denying  altogether  the  presence  of  drifted  plants, 
the  opinion  of  the  author  seems  erroneous ;  universal 
negative  propositions  are  in  all  cases  dangerous,  and  more 
especially  so  in  Geology.  That  some  of  the  trees  which 
are  found  erect  in  the  coal  formation  have  not  been  drifted, 
is,  he  thinks,  established  on  sufficient  evidence  ;  but  there 
is  equal  evidence  to  show  that  other  trees  and  leaves  in- 
numerable, which  pervade  the  strata  that  alternate  with 
the  coal,  have  been  removed  by  water  to  considerable 
distances  from  the  spots  on  which  they  grew.  Proofs 
are  daily  increasing  in  favor  of  both  opinions,  namely, 
that  some  of  the  vegetables  which  form  our  beds  of  coal 
grew  on  the  identical  banks  of  sand  and  silt  and  mud, 
which,  being  now  indurated  to  stone  and  shale,  form  the 
strata  that  accompany  the  coal ;  whilst  other  portions  of 
those  plants  have  been  drifted  to  various  distances  from 
die  swamps,  savannas,  and  forests  that  gave  them  birth ; 
particularly  those  that  are  dispersed  through  the  sand- 
stones, or  mixed  with  fishes  in  the  shale  beds."  In  these 
views  of  Dr.  Buckland,  Sir  Charles  Lyell  would  seem  to 
concur,  as,  in  quoting  the  above  passage  in  his  Elements, 
he  says  that  "  it  can  no  longer  be  doubted  that  both  these 
opinions  are  true,  if  we  confine  our  attention  to  particular 
places."  Another  paper,  on  the  subject  of  the  same  fossil 
trees  found  on  the  Manchester  and  Bolton  Railway,  was 


98  THE  THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

read  cotemporaneously  with  the  last  communication  of 
Mr.  Hawkshaw.  The  author,  Mr.  Bowman,  is  of  opin- 
ion "that  the  theory  of  the  subsidence  of  the  land  during 
the  carboniferous  era,  receives  much  support  from  the 
phenomena  presented  by  these  fossil  trees."  He  does  not 
deny  that  plants  may  have  been  carried  into  the  water 
from  neighboring  lands ;  but  he  conceives  it  difficult  to 
understand  whence  the  vast  masses  of  vegetables  neces- 
sary to  form  thick  seams  of  coal  could  have  been  derived, 
if  drifted,  and  how  they  could  have  been  sunk  to  the  bot- 
tom without  being  intermixed  with  the  earthy  sediment 
which  was  slowly  deposited  upon  them.  Another  diffi- 
culty of  the  Drift  Theory,  he  says,  "  is  the  uniformity  of 
the  distribution  of  the  vegetable  matter  throughout  such 
great  areas  as  those  occupied  by  the  seams  of  coal."  Mr. 
Bowman  believes  that  the  coal  has  been  formed  from 
plants  which  grew  on  the  areas  now  occupied  by  the 
seams  ;  that  each  successive  race  of  vegetation  was  gradu- 
ally submerged  beneath  the  level  of  the  water,  and  cov- 
ered up  by  sediment,  which  accumulated  till  it  formed 
Another  dry  surface  for  the  growth  of  another  series  of 
trees  and  plants,  and  that  the  submergences  and  accumu- 
/ations  took  place  as  many  times  as  there  are  seams  of 
coal.  In  reviewing  the  foregoing  facts  and  opinions,  Dr. 
Buckland  conceives  that  a  luxuriant  growth  of  marsh 
plants,  as  Calamites,  Lepidodendra,  'Sigillaria,  etc.,  may 
have  formed  a  superstratum  of  coal,  resting  on  a  super- 
stratum of  the  same,  composed  exclusively  of  remains  of 
Stigmaria;  and,  in  accounting  for  the  marine  and  fresh- 
water strata  alternating  with  the  coal  beds,  he  appeals  to 
the  intermitting  and  alternate  processes  of  subsidence, 
drift,  and  vegetable  growth. 

Prof.  Rogers,  in  introducing  his  own  hypothesis,  says 
of  the  foregoing,  "that  they  do  not  attempt -to  account  for 
scoie  of  the  most  remarkable  relationships  among  the 


COAL — HOW   FORMED.  9V 

strata,  such  as  the  extraordinary  frequency,  beneath  the- 
coal  beds,  of  the  Stigmaria  clay,  the  very  general  occur- 
rence of  laminated  slates  immediately  above  the  seams: 
and  the  singular  contrast  which  these  underlying  and 
overlying  rocks  present,  in  the  variety  and  condition  of 
the  imbedded  vegetable  remains.  Nor  do  they  explain 
satisfactorily  why  the  coal  itself  contains  so  few  traces  of 
the  forest  trees  of  the  period,  either  in  a  prostrate  or  erect 
position  ;  while  thin  broken  stems  are  mingled  with  the 
fragmentary  parts  of  the  Stigmaria,  in  more  or  less  abun- 
dance, In  all  the  coarser  rocks."  This  is  very  true.  Any 
theory  which  contemplates  merely  the  coal  itself,  must 
necessarily  be  unsatisfactory,  incomplete,  and  defective ; 
for  it  so  happens  that  the  coal  is  nearly  always  associated 
with,  and  frequently  graduates  into,  the  adjacent  slates, 
which  are  also  of  equal  and  sometimes  greater  thickness. 
But  besides  the  coal,  we  must  also  account  for  the  numer- 
ous deposits  of  soft,  unctuous,  and  shelly  coal  which  occur 
so  frequently  in  the  vein,  and  which  sometimes  extend 
several  hundred  yards  in  length,  entirely  displacing  and 
superseding  the  pure  coal.  What  is  this  substance  ? 
That  it  is  not  pure  coal  is  sufficiently  plain  ;  that  it  is  not 
slate  is  equally  plain;  that  it  is  of  vegetable  origin  no  one 
will  deny.  I  shall  not  anticipate  here  the  remarks  which 
I  propose  to  make  hereafter  ;  but  I  may  merely  suggest  • 
that  this  unctuous  shale  is  the  true  peat  of  the  peat-bogs;  j 
but  that  the  coal  itself  is  quite  another  substance. 

Prof.  H.  D.  Rogers,  in  his  voluminous  Report  on  the 
Geology  of  Pennsylvania,  promulgates  a  theory  which 
comprehends  some  of  the  leading  features  of  drift,  estuary, 
and  peat  bogs  ;  and  though  portions  of  it  are  original  with 
himself,  and  extremely  curious,  the  whole  may  be  regarded 
as  a  fair  exposition  of  the  views  now  generally  held  by 
geologists  on  this  subject. 

"Let  us  imagine,"  says  Mr.  Rogers,  " 

OF 


UNIVERSITY 


100  THE  THIRD  DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

covered  by  the  coal  formation,  to  have  possessed  a  physi- 
cal geography,  in  which  the  principal  feature  was  the 
existence  of  extensive  flats,  bordering  a  continent,  and 
forming  the  shores  of  an  ocean,  or  some  vast  bay,  outside 
of  which  was  a  wide  expanse  of  shallow  but  open  sea. 
Let  us  now  suppose  that  the  whole  period  of  the  coal 
measures  was  characterized  by  a  general  slow  subsidence 
of  these  coasts,  on  which  we  conceive  that  the  vegetation 
of  the  coal  grew ; — that  this  vertical  depression  was, 
however,  interrupted  by  pauses  and  gradual  upward 
movements  of  less  frequency  and  duration,  and  that  these 
nearly  statical  conditions  of  the  land  alternated  with 
great  paroxysmal  displacements  of  the  coal,  caused  by 
those  mighty  pulsations  of  the  crust  which  we  will  call 
earthquakes.  Let  us  further  conceive,  that  during  the 
periods  of  gentle  depression,  or  almost  absolute  rest,  the 
low  coast  was  fringed  by  great  marshy  tracts  or  peat  bogs, 
derived  from  and  supporting  a  luxuriant  growth  of 
sligmarioe  (sigillaria  and  lepidodendria,)  and  that  along  the 
landward  margin,  and  in  the  dryer  places  of  these  exten- 
sive sea  morasses,  grew  the  coniferce,  tree-ferns,  lycopo- 
dicecece,  and  other  arborescent  plants,  whose  remains  are 
so  profusely  scattered  throughout  the  coarser  strata, 
between  the  coal  seams.  In  this  condition  of  things,  the 
constant  decomposition  and  growth  of  the  meadows  of 
stigmariae,  would  produce  a  very  uniform  extended  stratum 
of  pulpy,  but  minutely-laminated  pure  peat  This  would 
receive  occasional  contributions  from  the  droppings  by 
the  scattered  trees  of  their  leaves,  fronds,  and  smaller  por- 
tions, which,  being  driven  by  winds,  or  floated  on  the  high 
tides,  would  lodge  among  the  stigmarise  in  the  marshes, 
and  slightly  augment  the  deposit.  These  leaves  and 
fronds,  covered  over  more  or  less  rapidly  by  the  growing 
stigmariae,  or  varying  in  their  tendency  to  decay,  according 
to  the  abundance  or  deficiency  of  their  juices,  would,  when 


COAL — HOW   FORMED.  101 

thus  inclosed,  pass  at  once  either  to  the  pulpy  state,  and 
ultimately  form  coal,  or  by  the  more  rapid  extrication  of 
their  volatile  portions,  remain  as  mineral  charcoal,  and 
preserve  their  vegetable  fibrous  structure.     In  both  of 
these  conditions  of  coal  and  charcoal,  we  often  find  the 
smaller  parts  of  plants  retaining  their  organized  forms 
among  the  laminae  of  the  purest  coal  seams.     Upon  this 
view   of    a   gradual   accumulation  from   the   stigmarioe, 
assisted  by  the  deciduous  parts  of  the  trees,  it  is  altogether 
unnecessary  to  suppose  that  any  portions,  even  the  upper 
layers  of  the  coal  beds,  derived  their  vegetable  matter 
from  the  stems  of  the  trees  themselves.     Thus  the  absence 
of  trunks  and   roots  from  the   coal,  is  reconciled  with 
the  occasional  occurrence  of  their  fronds  and  lighter  ex- 
tremities.    Upon   no    other    hypothesis    respecting    the 
physical  condition  of  the  region  which  produced  the  coal 
vegetation  than  that  here  imagined,  can  I  explain  the 
singular  infrequency  of  fossil  trunks  standing  on  or  in  the 
coal,  or  account  for  their  occasional  occurrence,  as  in  the 
instances   described   by  Hawkshaw   and   Bowman.     No 
other  supposition  seems  to  furnish  a  cause  for  the  absence 
or  all  traces  in  the  coal  itself  of  the  larger  parts  of  arbo- 
rescent plants,  and  for  their  equally  remarkable  abundance 
in  a  broken  and  dispersed  state  in  the  overlying  strata."* 
Assuming   such   to   have   been   the   condition   of  the 
surface  during  the  tranquil  periods  of  accumulation  of 
each  coal  bed,  Mr.  Rogers  conceives  the  alternating  strata 
to  have  been  produced  in  the  following   extraordinary 
manner  :   "  Let  us  suppose  an  earthquake,  possessing  the 
characteristic  undulatory  movement  of  the  crust,  in  which 
I  believe  all  earthquakes  essentially  to  consist,  suddenly 
to  have  disturbed  the  level  of  the  side  peat-morasses  and 
adjoining  flat  tracts  of  forest  on  the  one  side,  and  the 

*  Geological  Survey  of  Pennsylvania,  vol.  iL 


102  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

shallow  sea  on  the  other.  The  ocean,  as  usual  in  earth- 
quakes, would  drain  off  its  waters  for  a  moment  from  the 
great  Stigmaria  marsh,  and  from  all  the  swampy  forests 
which  skirted  it,  and  by  its  recession  stir  up  the  muddy 
soil,  and  drift  away  the  fronds,  twigs,  and  smaller  plants, 
and  spread  these  and  the  mud  broadly  over  the  surface 
of  the  bog.  In  this  way  may  have  been  formed  the 
laminated  slates,  so  full  of  fragmentary  leaves  and  twigs, 
which  generally  compose  the  immediate  covering  of  the 
coal  beds.  Presently,  however,  the  sea  would  roll  in  with 
impetuous  force,  and,  reaching  the  forest  land  prostrate 
every  thing  before  it.  Almost  the  entire  forest  would  be 
uprooted,  and  borne  off  on  its  tremendous  surf.  Spread- 
ing far  inland,  compared  with  its  accustomed  shore,  it 
would  wash  up  the  soil,  and  abrade  whatever  fragmentary 
materials  lay  in  its  path,  and,  loaded  with  these,  it  would 
then  rush  out  again,  with  irresistible  violence,  toward  its 
deeper  bed,  strewing  the  products  of  the  land  in  a  coarse 
promiscuous  stratum,  imbedding  the  fragments  of  the 
broken  and  disordered  trees.  Alternately  swelling  and 
retiring  with  a  suddenness  and  energy  far  surpassing  that 
of  any  tide,  and  maintained  probably  in  this  state  of  tem- 
pestuous oscillation  by  fresh  heavings  of  the  crust,  the 
waters  would  go  on  spreading  a  succession  of  coarser  or 
finer  strata,  and  entombing  at  each  inundation  a  new 
portion  of  the  floating  forest.  Upon  the  dying  away  of 
the  earthquake  undulations,  the  sea,  once  more  restored  to 
tranquillity,  would  hold  in  suspension  at  last  only  the  most 
finely-subdivided  sedimentary  matter,  and  the  most  buoy- 
ant of  the  uptorn  vegetation — that  is  to  say,  the  argilla- 
ceous particles  of  the  fire-clay — and  the  naturally  floating 
stems  of  the  plants.  These  would  at  last  precipitate 
themselves  together  by  a  slow  subsidence,  and  form  a  uni- 
form deposit,  exhibiting  but  few  traces  of  any  active  hori- 
zontal currents,  such  as  would  arise  from  a  drifting  into 


COAL   VEINS — HOW   DEPOSITED.  103 

the  sea  from  rivers.  The  chief  portion  of  the  coarser  fire- 
clay would  settle  first,  and  then  the  more  impalpable 
particles,  in  company  with  the  stems  and  leaves  of  the 
uprooted  vegetation.  Thus  we  may  account  for  the  con- 
stant reproduction  of  the  peculiar  soil  of  the  coal  seams, 
and  for  the  preservation,  particularly  in  its  upper  clayey 
layers,  of  the  Stigmaria  (Sigillaria)  ;  the  simple  conse- 
quences of  the  final  subsidence  of  those  materials  being 
the  production  of  the  necessary  substratum  of  another 
coal  marsh.  The  marine  savannahs  becoming  again 
clothed  with  their  matting  of  vegetation;  and  fringed,  on 
the  side  toward  the  land,  with  wet  forests  of  arborescent 
ferns  and  other  trees,  all  the  essential  conditions  and 
changes  that  constituted  this  wonderful  cycle  in  the 
statical  and  dynamic  processes  belonging  to  each  seam  of 
coal,  and  the  beds  inclosing  it,  would  be  completed,  and 
ready  to  be  once  more  renewed.  "* 

This,  indeed,  is  a  very  extraordinary  theory.  An  earth- 
quake for  every  seam  of  coal !  In  those  basins  where  there 
are  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  seams,  large  and  small,  there 
must  have  been  an  equal  number  of  earthquakes  I  In 
Nova  Scotia  there  were  at  least  seventy  such  earthquakes 
— yet,  singular  as  the  fact  may  appear,  there  is  little  or  no 
disturbance  -of  the  strata!  In  the  Anthracite  regions,  ac- 
cording to  Mr.  Rogers'  showing,  there  are  some  fifty  coal 
seams,  consequently  there  must  have  been  fifty  or  more 
successive  earthquakes!  and  these  earthquakes  were  not 
confined  to  a  particular  region;  they  are  not  local  in  their 
operations ;  but  extended  alike  all  over  the  coal  regions 
of  Russia,  France,  England,  Wales,  Germany,  and  Amer- 
ica; and  by  a  singular  coincidence,  always  occurred  im- 
mediately after  the  deposition  of  a  vein  of  coal!  It  does 
not  appear  to  have  occurred  to  Mr.  Rogers,  that  while 

*  Geological  Survey  of  Pennsylvania,  vol.  ii. 


104  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

these  earthquakes  were  arousing  the  ocean,  and  causing 
him  to  uproot  forests  and  scatter  their  trees  and  stumps 
broadcast  over  the  coal,  the  coal  seam  itself  would  have 
suffered  material  damage!  The  earthquake  must  have 
been  tame  and  amiable  indeed,  if,  with  the  undulations 
and  the  wide  fissures  they  usually  produce  in  the  crust, 
they  did  not  contort  and  ruffle  the  strata  of  coal,  so  that 
the  subsequent  layers  above  would  have  occurred  in  un- 
conformable  order.  If  earthquakes  aroused  the  ocean  in 
the  terrible  manner  described,  it  is  at  least  wonderful  how 
most  of  the  coal  basins  maintained  their  horizontality,  and 
the  regularity  of  the  superposition  of  one  seam  over  another. 
This  is,  at  least,  wonderful ! 

It  will  be  observed  that  Mr.  Rogers  has  omitted  to  ac- 
count for  the  phenomenon  of  the  fossil  trees  occurring  in 
situ  over  small  seams  of  coal.  It  may  be  doubted  whether 
such  a  phenomenon  could  exist  amid  the  savage  depreda- 
tions of  tha  ocean  and  the  wave-like  flexures  of  his  earth- 
quakes. Yet,  they  do  exist ;  and  there  is  too  much  sig- 
nificance in  them  to  be  cavalierly  passed  over. 

Now,  we  are  told  by  all  the  Geologists  whose  opinions 
have  been  quoted,  and  by  many  others  whom  we  have 
not  thought  it  worth  while  to  quote,  that  fossil  trees  have 
been  found  in  the  coal  measures.  They  go  further:  they 
state  that  fossil  trees,  in  an  upright  position,  bave  been 
found  below,  above,  and  passing  directly  through  small 
seams  of  coal.  All  this  I  can  readily  believe,  because  I 
have  myself  seen  such  fossil  trees.  The  inference  created 
by  the  annunciation  of  the  fact  of  the  existence  of  such 
trees  on,  under,  and  in  the  solid  coal  would  naturally  lead 
to  several  conclusions,  which  all  the  geologists  themselves 
appear  to  have  arrived  at :  first,  that  the  coal  was  derived 
from  such  trees ;  second,  that  the  trees  grew  where  they 
are  found;  and  third,  that  such  trees  flourished  on  the 
peat-bogs  which  they  describe.  All  works  on  Geology 


FOSSIL   TREES   IN   COAL.  105 

teem  with  descriptions  of  these  fossil  trees,  and  wood  cuts 
exhibiting  the  quarries  and  situations  in  which  they  were 
found.  Since  Mr.  Hawkshaw's  discovery  in  1839,  more 
than  two  hundred  other  trees  and  stumps  have  been  found 
in  England,  France,  Scotland,  and  Nova  Scotia.  Nearly 
all  these  occur  in  the  coal  measures,  either  immediately 
over,  under,  or  in  the  coal  vein.  Those  that  I  have  seen 
in  the  anthracite  coal  regions,  are  directly  over  the  vein  of 
coal.  Assuming,  then,  that  they  all  grew  on  the  peat 
marshes  that  produced  the  coal,  is  it  not  singular  that  none 
of  the  trees  themselves  should  have  been  converted  into  coal  ? 
Is  it  not  incredible  that  all  the  trees  thus  described  with 
so  much  learning  and  scientific  acumen,  instead  of  being 
coal,  are  converted  into  shale,  or  silex,  or  carbonate  of 
lime!  Prof.  Lyell  mentions  one  solitary  instance,  among 
the  numerous  fossil  trees  and  forests  wliich  he  describes, 
of  trees  being  converted  into  coal.  These  were  found  in  a 
vein  of  coal  in  Wolverhampton,  in  England.  There  were  no 
less  than  seventy-five  trees,  with  their  roots  attached,  oc- 
cupying a  space  of  one-fourth  of  an  acre.  The  trunks, 
broken  off  close  to  the  root,  were  lying  prostrate  in  every 
direction,  often  crossing  each  other.  One  of  them  mea- 
sured fifteen,  another  thirty  feet  in  length,  and  others  less. 
"  They  were,"  says  the  Professor,  "  invariably  flattened  to 
the  thickness  of  one  or  two  inches,  and  converted  into  coal." 
In  the  case  of  Mr.  Hawkshaw's  trees,  they  are  described 
as  having  a  thin  "  coating  of  coal,  so  friable  that  it  crum- 
bled to  pieces  on  removing  the  shale."  And  the  solid 
trunks  of  these  trees,  like  all  the  others  described  by  Mr. 
Lyell,  were  also  converted  into  shale,  or  sand,  or  lime. 

I  have  myself  seen  thousands  and  thousands  of  frag- 
ments of  fossil  trees,  and  occasionally  their  solid  round 
trunks  ;  but  never,  in  a  solitary  instance,  was  the  woody 
structure  converted  into  coal.  I  have  made  inquiry,  and 
wherever  such  cases  were  reported,  have  gone  to  some 


106  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

trouble  to  ascertain  the  facts.  In  every  instance  I  found 
that  the  woody  trunk,  when  flattened,  was  merely 
surrounded  by  coal,  but  the  interior  was  converted  into 
dark  shale.  The  Scientific  Association  of  Pottsville,  in 
one  of  their  publications,  proclaimed  that  they  had  dis- 
covered fossils  in  the  coal,  and  thus  created  the  inference 
that  such  fossils  were  themselves  coal.  On  examining  the 
specimens,  I  found  numerous  stems  of  plants,  and  limbs 
of  trees  in  the  coal,  and  every  where  surrounded  by  it;  but 
the  stems  and  fragments  of  trees  were  themselves  converted 
into  slate.  If  a  scientific  body,  operating  in  the  midst  of 
the  most  prolific  coal  field  in  the  world,  and  surrounded 
by  specimens  of  the  coal  vegetation  from  all  quarters  of 
the  country,  could  thus  inadvertently  create  a  false  im- 
pression by  means  of  its  authorized  publications,  I  feel 
that  it  would  be  no  discourtesy  to  the  well-known  judg- 
ment and  critical  scrutiny  of  Mr.  Lyell  to  infer  that,  in 
this  instance,  he  may  also  have  fallen  into  an  error.  I  have 
seen  the  flattened  trunks  of  Sigillaria,  extending  for  fifty 
feet  over  veins  of  coal,  exactly  in  the  manner  described 
by  him  ;  but  on  close  examination  they  were  found  to  be 
„  (surrounded  by  coal,  while  the  interior  woody  structure  of 
Jthe  trunk  was  invariably  converted  into  slate.  I  have 
observed  on  more  than  a  thousand  occasions,  the  solid 
iimbs  of  trees  imbedded  in  the  slates  of  the  coal  veins, 
converted  into  sandstone,  iron  pyrites,  and  slate ;  but 
never  have  I  seen  them  carbonized.  And  whenever  they 
occur  in  the  coal  itself,  which  is  very  rarely  the  case,  they 
still  maintain  their  slaty  character.  But  while  the  interior 
of  the  fossils  is  always  slate,  sand,  or  clay,  the  outside  is 
as  invariably  coal,  especially  where  the  wood  has  been 
flattened  by  pressure.  Of  the  thousands  of  specimens  of 
Sigillaria,  Stigmaria,  Lepidodendria,  and  Calamites,  that 
I  have  found  in  the  coal  mines,  I  have  never  yet  met  any 
that  did  not  exhibit  traces  of  coal  on  the  outside,  while 


AN   IMPORTANT   MISTAKE   CORRECTED.  107 

most  of  them  were  coated  with  a  thin  stratum  of  it. 
This  .thin  coating  of  coal  is  supposed  by  nearly  every 
geologist  who  has  described  it,  to  be  the  bark  of  the  tree. 
But  a  moment's  reflection  and  a  closer  scrutiny  will 
effectually  dispel  this  idea.  The  scars  of  the  Sigillaria, 
and  the  exterior  marks  of  the  Lepidoclendria  and  Stigmaria, 
were  all  produced  by  the  detached  leaves.  They  therefore 
occur  on  the  bark,  exactly  as  similar  scars  are  produced  on 
the  outer  covering  of  the  recent  shoots  of  pine  trees.  Now 
in  all  fossils  the  coating  of  coal  is  invariably  and  necessarily 
over  these  scars,  and  they  can  seldom  be  seen  at  all  until  \ 
the  coal  is  removed.  The  coal  exhibits  no  trace  of  woody) 
structure  ;  instead  of  being  fibrous,  it  is  decidedly  vitreous, 
resinous,  and  brittle,  and  invariably  increases  in  thickness 
with  the  line  of  pressure  to  which  the  tree  had  been  ex- 
posed. This  proves,  first,  that  the  coal  had  been  in  a  soft 
and  viscid  condition  ;  and  second,  that  it  was  expelled 
from  the  interior  woody  cells  of  the  tree  in  the  form  of 
turpentine,  oil,  bitumen,  or  a  peculiar  resinous  tar.  The 
proofs  of  this  are  overwhelming  and  undeviating.  Some- 
times, indeed,  the  juices  may  have  been  extracted,  for  the 
most  part,  before  *he  tree  became  fossilized,  in  which  case 
the  amount  of  coal  is  small ;  but  whenever  the  tree  was 
exposed  to  pressure  while  its  juices  were  retained,  the 
coating  of  coal  on  the  outside  is  uniformly  present  in 
greater  or  less  abundance.  I  therefore  lay  it  down  as  a 
broad  axiom  in  my  experjpice,  that  pure  anthracite  coal  ( 
is  the  chemically -changed  resinous  matter  discharged  by 
the  coal  vegetation ;  and  that  it  is  impossible  to  detect  in 
such  pure  coal  any  traces  of  vegetable  structure. 

The  elementary  substances  which  enter  into  the  com- 
position of  all  vegetables,  are  confined  to  a  small  number 
— as  oxygen,  hydrogen,  nitrogen,  carbon,  lime,  silex, 
alumina,  magnesia,  potash,  soda,  and  iron.  These  c<*i- 
stitute  the  greater  portion  of  the  list.  Plants,  however, 


108          THE  THIRD  DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

are  endowed  with  the  powers  of  assimilating  and  combin- 
ing these  various  substances  into  compounds,  assuming 
various  forms  and  properties.  The  chief  of  these  vege- 
table compounds  are  gum,  sugar,  farina  or  starch,  gluten, 
albumen,  fibrina,  extract,  tannin,  coloring  matter,  bitter 
principle,  narcotic  principle,  alcohol,  acids,  oils,  wax, 
resins,  gum  resins,  balsams,  camphor,  caoutchouc,  cork, 
lignin,  or  woody  fibre,  sap,  proper  juice ;  while  the  simple 
or  uncombined  products  are  carbon  or  charcoal,  the 
mineral  alkalies,  earthly  and  metallic  oxydes. 

It  is  unnecessary  here  to  remind  the  reader  of  the  large 
family  of  trees  existing  at  the  present  era,  which  discharge 
the  various  kinds  of  gums,  glutens,  starches,  albumens, 
and  acids,  known  in  commerce,  manufactures,  medicine, 
and  domestic  economy.  The  variety  is  altogether  innu- 
merable, and  the  extent  incalculable.  But  while  the 
animal  kingdom,  including  the  human  species,  is  now 
and  always  have  been  wholly  supported  by  the  vegeta- 
tion of  the  earth,  it  is  a  singular  fact  that  the  coal  vegeta- 
tion resembles  that  now  existing  only  in  its  ferns  and 
coniferous  trees — trees  upon  which  animals  cannot  subsist. 
We  may  look  in  vain  among  these  fossils  for  any  thing 
resembling  the  grains,  fruits,  nuts,  and  roots,  upon  which 
animal  life  is  now  sustained.  There  is  no  trace  among 
them  of  wheat,  rice,  corn,  or  the  grasses  known  to  agri- 
culture. There  are  no  remains  of  the  date,  the  palm,  or 
the  potato ;  of  carrots,  turrits,  radish,  cabbage,  beet, 
lettuce,  or  rhubarb  ;  of  peas,  beans,  cherries,  strawberries, 
or  gooseberries ;  there  are  none  of  apples,  pears,  plums, 
quinces,  peaches,  oranges,  and  grapes.  There  were  no 
flowers,  nor  nutritious  fruits,  nor  seeds,  nor  nuts,  nor 
roots ; — and  why  was  this  ?  The  reason  is  simple  and 
obvious.  There  were  then  absolutely  no  animals  breath- 
ing the  air  on  the  land,  and  there  was  consequently  no  use 
whatever  for  a  vegetation  such  as  we  now  have  in  every 


EXISTING   CONIFFROUS   TREES.  ]Q9 

portion  of  the  globe.  Would  not  Moses  have  made  a 
fatal  blunder,  if,  with  the  knowledge  we  now  have  of  the 
coal  vegetation,  he  had  inadvertently  introduced  air- 
breathing  animals  into  the  picture,  as  some  of  our  geolo- 
gists, with  less  foresight,  have  ventured  to  do  ?  But, 
instead  of  the  fruits  and  flowers  and  waving  grain  that 
now  surround  us,  the  earth  then  produced  trees  like  those 
of  the  lofty  pines,  and  it  was  from  these  that  the  coal  and 
various  other  substances  allied  to  it  were  mainly  extracted. 
There  was  then  no  immediate  use  for  the  vegetation 
itself;  but  the  resinous. juices  which  it  secreted  were  to  be 
entombed  in  the  crust  of  the  earth  for  the  future  purposes 
of  man ; — to  subserve  the  designs  of  those  great  future 
eras,  when,  owing  to  the  changed  physical  character  of 
the  earth,  their  production,  distillation,  and  deposition 
would  have  been  utterly  impossible.  The  far-seeing 
sagacity  of  the  great  Author  of  the  world  is  thus  con- 
tinually manifested ;  and  we  perceive  at  every  step  how 
uniformly  consistent,  great,  and  harmonious,  are  all  his 
decrees. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  whatever  that  the  forests  of  the 
carboniferous  period  largely  predominated  in  coniferous 
trees,  and  that  our  beds  of  coal  have  been  derived  from 
their  resinous  secretions.  I  propose  to  give  my  reasons 
for  this  inference  in  due  season  ;  but  in  the  mean  time  it 
is  necessary  to  understand  as  nearly  as  we  can  the  nature 
of  the  trees  in  question.  This  may  be  arrived  at,  in  some 
measure,  by  studying  the  features  of  those  now  existing 
which  the  ancient  trees  most  resembled.  . 

The  Coniferaa  belong  chiefly  to  the  class  mono3cia  and 
polyandria  of  Linnasus,  and  the  gymnosperm  phanero- 
gam!® of  Jussieu.  The  existing  family  has  been  divided 
into  thirteen  genera,  each  containing  a  large  number  of 
Bpecies.  The  genera  consist  of,  1.  Pinus,  or  the  fir; 
2.  Abies,  the  spruce  ;  3.  Larix,  the  larch ;  4.  Shubertia, 


110          THE  THIRD  DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

deciduous  cypress ;  5.  Cupressis,  or  cypress ;  6.  Thuga, 
or  arbor  vitse  ;  t.  Juniperus,  or  juniper ;  8.  Auraucaria, 
or  ]STew  Holland  pine ;  9.  Belis,  or  javelin-shaped ;  10. 
Agathus,  or  dammer  pine;  11.  Exocarpus,  or  cypress- 
like  ;  12.  Podocarpus,  or  Chinese  pine ;  13.  Taxus,  or  the 
yew.  4 

The  distinct  species  of  the  pinus  enumerated  by  botan- 
ists are  upwards  of  twenty.  None  of  these  bear  flat 
leaves,  but  a  sort  of  spines,  which,  however,  are  true 
leaves.  They  are  mostly  evergreens  ;  but  the  appearance 
of  the  tree,  as  well  as  the  quality  of  the  timber,  varies 
with  the  species,  as  also  with  the  situation  in  which  it 
grows.  Generally  speaking,  the  timber  is  the  more  hard 
and  durable  the  colder  the  situation  and  the  slower  the 
tree  grows  ;  and  in  peculiar  situations  it  is  not  uncommon 
to  find  the  northern  half  of  a  pine  hard  and  red,  while  the 
southern  half,  though  considerably  thicker  from  the  pith 
to  the  bark,  is  white,  soft,  and  spongy. 

In  the  peat-bogs  of  Scotland,  the  remains  of  pine  trees 
are  very  abundant ;  and  such  is  their  durability,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  turpentine  they  contain,  that,  where  the 
birch  is  reduced  to  a  pulp,  and  the  oak  cracks  into 
splinters  as  it  dries,  the  heart  of  the  pine  remains  fresh, 
and,  embalmed  in  its  own  turpentine,  is  quite  elastic,  and 
used  by  the  country  people  in  place  of  candles. 

The  wild  pine  of  Scotland  (pinus  ailvestris]  is  widely  diffused;  and  is 
found  growing  in  a  state  of  nature  in  many  situations.  It  is  indigenous 
in  the  Alps,  in  the  north  of  Germany,  in  Sweden  and  Norway,  and  in 
"Russia.  In  favorable  situations,  it  attains  a  height  of  eighty  feet,  and 
fuorn  four  to  five  feet  in  diameter.  The  trunk  is  covered  with  a  thick  and 
deeply-farrowed  bark;  the  leaves  are  in  pairs,  of  a  pale-green  color,  stiff, 
twisted,  and  about  throe  inches  long;  the  flowers  are  of  a  yellowish  tint, 
and  the  cones  are  grayish,  of  a  middling  thickness,  and  a  little  shorter 
than  the  leaves.  Each  scale  is  surmounted  by  a  retorted  spine.  There 
are  several  varieties  of  this  pine.  The  pinna  silvestris  is  that  which  yields 
the  red  wood;  even  young  trees  of  this  sort  become  red  in  their  wood, 


EXISTING   RESINOUS   TREES.  Ill 

and  full  of  resin  very  soon.  Pines  generally  are  found  growing  inforetta, 
or  clustered  together.  In  this  position  they  grow  tall  and  upright,  with 
few  lateral  branches,  except  near  the  top.  This  pine  very  often,  though 
not  in  trees  completely  matured,  contains  sap-wood  next  the  bark,  and 
toward  the  pith  is  a  little  spongy.  The  pines  generally  occur  in  much 
more  extensive  forests,  and  with  a  far  less  admixture  of  other  trees,  than 
any  other  genus  whatever.  Though  it  is  not  the  last  timber  met  with  on 
the  confines  of  the  snow,  as  we  ascend  high  mountains,  or  at  the  verge  of 
vegetation  as  we  approach  the  pole,  yet,  after  a  certain  elevation,  and 
north  of  the  latitude  of  about  fifty  degrees,  it  is  by  far  the  most  abundant 
timber  in  Europe,  America,  and  Asia.  Along  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  in  the 
British  possessions  north,  large  quantities  of  tar  have  for  many  years 
been  distilled  from  it  for  the  European  market. 

The  other  European  species  of  the  pine  are :  the  Corsican  (p.  laricio), 
which  is  nearly  allied  to  the  Scotch  pine.  Prof.  Thonia  considers  it 
equally  hardy  with  the  Scotch  pine ;  but  its  wood  is  more  weighty  and 
resinous.  It  grows  wild  on  the  summits  of  the  highest  mountains  in 
Corsica.  The  Cluster  pine  (p.  pinaster)  is  a  grand  and  picturesque  tree, 
and  is  a  great  favorite  with  the  Roman  and  Florentine  painters.  The 
Stone  pine  (p.  pinea)  is  very  common  in  the  south  of  Italy.  The  seeds 
of  this  and  the  cluster  pine  are  eaten  in  Italy,  both  by  the  poor  and  rich. 
They  are  as  sweet  as  almonds,  but  partake  slightly  of  a  turpentine  flavor. 
The  wood  is  not  so  resiuous  as  most  of  the  other  species.  The  Siberian 
pine  (p.  cerubra),  the  tennebaum  of  Byron's  Childe  Harold,  grows  higher 
in  the  Alps  than  any  other  tree  ;  and  is  found  in  elevations  where  the  larch 
will  not  grow.  The  peasants  of  the  Tyrol  make  various  carved  works 
with  the  wood,  and  sell  them  in  Switzerland,  where  the  common  people 
are  fond  of  the  resinous  smell  which  it  exhales.  The  Canary  pine  (p. 
canariensis)  grows  in  the  mountains  of  the  Canary  Islands.  The  wood 
is  resinous  and  highly  inflammable.  v 

Of  American  species  of  the  pine,  Michaux  enumerates  ten.  Of  these, 
the  Red  Pine  (p.  rubra}  is  found  in  Canada  and  the  northern  parts  of  the 
United  States.  It  occupies  small  tracts  of  a  few  hundred  acres,  either 
alone  or  mingled  with  the  white  pine.  The  wood  has  a  fine  grain,  and  is 
very  resinous.  It  is  largely  produced  in  Maine,  and  along  the  shores  of 
Lake  Champlain.  The  Yellow  pine  (p.  mitis)  is  very  widely  diffused  in 
North  America.  It  is  a  beautiful  and  symmetrical  tree,  the  branches 
forming  a  pyramid  at  the  summit.  The  concentric  circles  of  the  wood 
are  six  times  as  numerous  in  a  given  space  as  those  of  the  pitch  or  lob. 
lolly  pines.  The  heart  is  fine-grained,  and  moderately  resinous.  The 
Long-leaved  pine  (p.  ctwtrali*)  is  also  known  as  the  yellow  pitch,  broom, 
and  Georgia  pine.  It  is  first  seen  near  Norfolk,  in  Virginia,  where  the 
pine  barrens  begin ;  and  it  extends  Dver  the  lower  part  of  the  Carolina* 
8 


112  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

and  the  States  of  Georgia  and  Florida.  Its  mean  stature  is  about  sixty 
feet,  with  a  uniform  diameter  of  eighteen  inches  for  two-thirds  of  its 
stem.  The  leaves  are  a  foot  long,  of  a  beautiful  brilliant  green.  The 
cones  are  also  very  large ;  the  seeds  are  generally  abundant,  the  kernel 
being  of  an  agreeable  taste,  and  is  voraciously  eaten  by  wild  turkeys, 
squirrels,  and  swine.  In  some  years,  however,  whole  forests  for  hundreds 
of  miles  will  not  yield  a  single  cone.  The  wood  is  compact,  fine-grained, 
durable,  and  susceptible  of  a  fine  polish.  It  is  from  this  tree  that  the 
principal  supply  of  pitch,  resin,  and  turpentine  is  obtained;  the  pine 
barrens,  being  of  vast  extent,  afford  an  abundant  supply  of  those  ma-- 
terials,  both  for  home  and  foreign  consumption.  I  shall  speak  of  the 
processes  for  obtaining  these  substances  very  shortly. 

The  Pitch  pine  (p.  rigida)  is  another  very  resinous  species,  very  com- 
mon all  over  the  United  States,  but  particularly  abundant  along  tire  At- 
lantic coast.  It  is  a  very  branchy  tree,  and  the  wood  is  consequently 
knotty.  The  bark  is  thick,  of  a  dark  color,  and  deeply  furrowed.  The 
concentric  circles  are  far  apart,  and  three-fourths  of  the  larger  stocks  con- 
sist of  sap. 

The  White  Pino  (p.  strobus)  is  one  of  the  most  abundant  and  valuable 
trees  in  America,  and  derives  its  name  from  the  perfect  whiteness  of  the 
wood.  It  grows  extensively  between  the  parallels  of  forty-three  and 
forty-seven  degrees,  in  almost  all  varieties  of  soil;  but  attains  its  greatest 
dimensions  in.  New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  and  near  the  source  of  the 
St.  Lawrence.  This  ancient  and  majestic  inhabitant  of  the  North  Ameri- 
can forests  is  still  the  loftiest  and  most  valuable  of  their  productions  ;  and 
its  summit  is  seen  waving  at  an  immense  distance  toward  heaven,  far 
above  the  heads  of  the  surrounding  trees.  It  is  the  foremost  in  taking 
possession  of  barren  districts,  and  the  most  hardy  in  resisting  the  impetu- 
ous gales  from  the  ocean.  On  young  stocks,  not  exceeding  forty  feet  in 
height,  the  bark  of  the  trunk  and  branches  is  smooth  and  polished ;  but 
as  the  tree  advances  in  age,  it  splits  and  becomes  rugged,  but  does  not 
fall  off  in  scales  like  that  of  other  pines.  The  wood  is  soft  and  light,  and 
is  extensively  used  in  the  United  States  for  architectural  purposes,  as 
also  in  Great  Britain.  It  is  not  resinous  enough  to  furnish  turpentine  for 
commerce;  nor  would  the  labor  of  extracting  it  be  easy,  because  of  its 
diffusion  in  small  tracts,  and  its  admixture  with  other  forest  trees. 

The  Firs  or  Spruces  (abies)  form  another  genus  of  the  Coniferce,  differ- 
ing from  the  pines  in  the  form  and  position  .of  the  leaves,  as  well  as  in 
the  general  aspect  of  the  trees.  In  the  firs,  the  leaves  are  generally 
shorter  than  in  the  pines,  and  placed  solitary  instead  of  in  pairs.  The 
Norway  Spruce  Fir  (abies  communis)  is  a  beautiful  and  stately  tree.  It 
is  one  of  the  tallest  of  European  firs.  The  leaves  are  solitary,  slightly 
arched,  and  of  a  dark  green  color,  which  gives  the  tree  a  »ouibre  aspect. 


THE   FAMILY   OF   RESINOUS   PINES.  113 

The  cones  are  cylindrical,  five  or  six  inches  in  length,  and  contain  small 
•winged  seeds.  By  incision  it  yields  resin  and  pitch.  The  tops  or  young 
sprouts  give  the  flavor  to  "  Spruce  beer."  The  white,  black,  and  red 
spruces  are  natives  of  America,  and  nearly  resemble  those  of  Europe. 

The  Silver  Fir  (a.  picea  )  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  this  family. 
When  standing  alone  developing  itself  naturally,  its  branches,  which  are 
numerous  and  thickly  garnished  with  leaves,  diminish  in  length  as  they 
approach  the  top,  and  thus  form  a  pyramid  of  perfect  regularity.  The 
upper  surface  of  the  leaves  is  of  a  vivid  green;  and  the  under  surface  has 
two  white  lines  running  lengthwise  on  each  side  of  the  midrib,  giving  the 
leaves  that  silvery  look  from  whence  the  common  name  is  derived.  The 
wood  is  light  and  slightly  resinous,  and  inferior  to  that  of  the  common 
pine.  The  resin  of  the  tree  is  sold  in  England  and  the  United  States, 
unde*  the  names  of  Balsam,  or  balm  of  Gilead,  although  the  true  balm  of 
Gilead  is  produced  from  an  entirely  different  tree,  the  amyris  Gileadensia. 

Pinua  Douglasii.  This  tree  grows  to  the  height  of  two  hundred  and 
thirty  feet,  and  is  fifty  feet  in  circumference  at  the  base.  It  has  a  rough 
corky  bark,  from  an  inch  to  twelve  inches  thick.  The  leaves  resemble 
those  of  the  spruce,  and  the  cones  are  small.  The  timber  is  good  and 
heavy.  This  pine  abounds  in  Oregon,  California,  and  Washington  Terri- 
tory, where  it  forms  extensive  forests,  extending  along  the  shores  of  the 
Pacific  Ocean  to  the  Rocky  Mountains.  It  is  impregnated  with  resin. 

Pinua  Lanibertiana.  This  tree  abounds  in  California,  where  it  is  dis- 
persed over  the  country,  but  not  in  large  forests.  Like  the  other,  it  at- 
tains the  most  extraordinary  dimensions — often  exceeding  two  hundred 
and  twenty  feet  in  length,  and  sixty  feet  in  circumference  at  the  base. 
The  cones  average  sixteen  inches  in  length.  The  seeds  are  eaten,  roasted 
or  pounded  into  cakes.  The  tree  bears  much  resemblance  to  the  spruces  ; 
and  like  them,  its  turpentine  is  of  a  pure  amber  color,  and  the  timber  soft 
and  white.  One  singular  property  of  this  tree  is,  that  when  the  timber 
is  partly  burned,  the  turpentine  loses  its  peculiar  flavor,  and  acquires  a 
sweetish  taste.  The  Indians  use  it  instead  of  sugar. 

The  Larch  (larix  communis}  is,  after  the  common  pine,  probably  the  most 
valuable  of  the  tribe.  The  name  seems  to  be  derived  from  the  Celtic,  in 
allusion  to  the  resinous  juice  which  it  exudes.  Dioscorides  remarks  that 
larix  is  the  Gallic  name  for  resin.  Though  a  native  of  the  mountains  of 
more  northern  regions,  it  thrives  extremely  well  in  Great  Britain.  The 
bark  of  the  larch  is  more  than  half  as  valuable  as  that  of  oak  in  tannin, 
and  the  tree  yields  turpentine  by  incision.  The  black  larch  of  America, 
(Lpendula)  called  by  the  Indians  tamarackc,  resembles  the  European  spe- 
cies bvvth  in  appearance  and  the  excellent  quality  of  the  wood  and  bark. 

The  Cedar  of  Lebanon  (I.  cedrus).  This  celebrated  tree  is  a  native  of  the 
mountains  of.Libanus,  Amanus,  and  Taurus;  butit  is  notnowto  be  found 


f 
114  THE    THIRD    DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

In  great  numbers.  The  forest  of  Lebanon  never  seems  to  have  recovered 
the  havoc  made  by  Solomon's  fortyscore  thousand  hewers,  so  that  there 
are  now  probably  more  cedars  in  England  than  in  all  Palestine.  Its  resist- 
ance to  wear  is  not  equal  to  that  of  the  oak ;  but  it  is  so  bitter  that  no  insect 
whatever  will  touch  it,  and  it  seems  to  be  proof  against  time  himself. 
The  timber  in  the  temple  of  Apollo  at  Utica  was  found  undecayed  after  the 
lapse  of  two  thousand  years.  Some  of  the  most  celebrated  structures  of 
antiquity  were  made  of  this  tree.  "  Solomon  raised  a  levy  of  thirty  thou- 
sand men  out  of  all  Israel;  and  he  sent  them  to  Lebanon,  ten  thousand 
n  month,  by  courses;  and  he  had  threescore  and  ten  thousand  that  bore 
burdens,  and  fourscore  thousand  hewers  in  the  mountains.  And  he  cov- 
ered the  temple  with  beams  and  boards  of  cedar.  And  he  built  chambers 
against  it,  which  rested  on  the  house,  with  timber  of  cedar.  And  the  ce- 
dar of  the  house  within  was  carved  with  knobs  and  flowers  ;  all  was  ce- 
dar, there  was  no  stone  seen."  Thus  writes  the  sacred  historian,  who 
mentions  that  the  same  monarch  had  a  palace  of  cedar  in  the  forest  of 
Lebanon.  Ancient  writers  notice  that  the  ships  of  Sesostris,  the  Egyptian 
conqueror,  were  formed  of  this  timber ;  as  was  also  the  gigantic  statue  of 
Diana  in  the  temple  of  Ephesus.  The  description  of  the  cedar  of  Lebanon 
by  the  prophet  Ezekiel  is  fine  and  true  :  "Behold  the  Assyrian  was  a  cedar 
in  Lebanon,  with  fair  branches,  and  of  an  high  stature;  and  his  top  was 
among  the  thick  boughs.  His  boughs  were  multiplied,  and  his  branches 
became  long.  The  fir  trees  were  not  like  his  boughs,  nor  the  chestnut 
trees  like  his  branches;  nor  any  tree  in  the  garden  of  God  like  unto  him 
in  beauty." 

The  Yew  Tree  (taxus  baccata)  is  a  native  of  Europe,  of  North  America, 
and  the  Japanese  isles.  The  trunk  and  branches  grow  very  straight;  the 
bark  is  cast  annually;  the  wood  is  red  and  veined;  it  is  compact,  hard, 
and  elastic.  The  yew  tree  was  also  consecrated — one  or  more  being  in 
every  church-yard,  and  they  were  held  sacred.  In  former  times,  in  funeral 
processions,  the  branches  were  carried  over  the  dead, by  the  mourners. 
Being  an  evergreen,  it  was  thus  made  typical  of  the  immortality  of  the 
soul.  „ 

The  Cypress  (cypressua  sempervirens)  obtains  its  name  from  the  Island 
of  Cyprus,  where  it  grows  in  great  abundance.  Of  all  timber,  that  of  the 
cypress  is  the  most  durable,  superior  even  to  that  of  cedar  itself.  The 
doors  of  St.  Peter's  Church,  in  Rome,  which  had  -been  formed  of  this 
material  in  the  time  of  Constantino,  showed  no  sign  of  decay  when,  after 
the  lapse  of  eleven  hundred  years,  Pope  Eugenius  IV.  took  them  down  to 
replace  them  by  gates  of  brass.  In  order  to  preserve  the  remains  of  their 
heroes,  the  Athenians  buried  them  in  coffins  of  cypress;  and  the  coffins 
in  which  the  Egyptian  mummies  are  found  are  usually  of  the  same  tim- 
ber. Like  the  yew,  it  was  carried  in  funeral  processions,  and  strewn 


EXISTING   CONIFEROUS   TREES.  115 

over  the  graves  of  the  dead.  The  White  Cedar  is  a  native  of  America; 
its  growth  is  slow;  but  it  is  hardy,  and  forms  a  good  variety  in  clumps 
of  evergreens.  Arbor  vitas  (thuja  occidentalis),  when  burnt,  gives  out  an 
agreeable  odor,  and  was  used  by  the  ancients  at  their  sacrifices.  It  is  a 
native  of  Canada.  It  grows  well  in  swamps  and  marshes.  A  Chinese 
species  (c.  orientalis)  resembles  it,  and  both  are  readily  propagated  by 
cuttings,  seeds,  or  layers. 

Norfolk  Island  Pine  (auraucaria  exceha)  attains  a  gigantic  size,  often 
measuring  two  hundred  and  twenty  feet  in  height.  It  is  a  native  of  Aus- 
tralia, and  presents  a  magnificent  object,  with  its  bright  evergreen  foliage, 
and  innumerable  waving  branches.  The  leav«s  are  closely  imbricated, 
inflexed,  and  pointless.  The  longitudinal  section  of  the  wood,  with  all 
the  distinctive  marks  of  the  Coniferse,  exhibit  the  peculiarity  of  three 
rows  of  oval  disks.  From  this  circumstance,  the  fossil  trees  of  Craig- 
leith  quarry  (previously  referred  to  by  me)  have  been  identified  with  the 
auraucaria  of  Norfolk  Island.  Other  fossil  tr*»es  occurring  in  coal  beds 
have  likewise  been  identified  with  it.  Sir  J.  Bank's  auraucaria  (a.  imbri- 
cata)  is  also  a  beautiful  variety  of  this  species. 

The  Juniper  (juniperie  communis)  is  common  in  all  the  northern  parts 
of  Europe.  It  flourishes  everywhere,  but  gra«*  will  not  grow  under  it. 
Wood  is  hard  and  durable ;  the  bark  is  so  tenacious  that  it  may  be  formed 
into  ropes,  and  the  berries  are  used  for  imparting  flavor  to  gins.  A  gum. 
oozes  spontaneously  from  the  trunks  of  old  plants,  which  forms  the  gum 
sandarack,  and  in  its  powdered  form  is  known  as  nounce.  The  berries 
and  tops,  by  distillation,  are  largely  used  for  medicines.  Bermuda  Cedar 
Wood  is  the  product  of  a  West  Indian  species  of  Juniper.  The  Ked  Cedar 
(j.  virgincaria)  is  one  of  the  highest  timber  trees  in  Jamaica.  The  wood 
is  bitter,  and  hence  avoided  by  insects.  Common  Savin  (j.  aabina)  is  a 
plant  which  only  attains  the  size  of  a  few  feet  in  England,  but  is  found 
as  a  tree  in  some  of  the  Greek  Islands.  The  leaves  and  tops  have  a  dis- 
agreeable odor,  and  a  bitter,  hot  taste.  These  qualities  a»-e  owing  to  an 
essential  oil,  which  is  obtained  in  large  quantity  by  distillation.  Gum 
Olibannm,  supposed  to  be  the  incense  of  the  ancients,  and  the  substance 
now  used  in  the  Catholic  churches,  is  the  product  of  the  juniper  licia, 
Allied  to  the  Conifene  is  the  family  of  plants,  Myrica,  or  e*ndleberry 
myrtle.  One  of  these,  the  sweet  gale,  is  very  abundant  in  *>ogs  and 
marshes  of  Scotland.  It  is  a  small  shrub,  with  leaves  like  the  uayrtle  or 
willow,  of  a  fragrant  odor  and  bitter  taste,  and  yielding  an  essential  oil 
by  distillation.  The  cones,  boiled  in  water,  throw  up  a  scum  resembling 
bees'-wax,  which,  collected  in  sufficient  quantity,  serve  for  candles. 
Myrica  Com/era,  or  Tallow  Shrub,  is  common  in  North  America,  where 
candles  are  made  from  a  decoction  of  the  berry.  It  grows  in  wet  soils. 


116  •  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

or  near  the  sea.     A  soap  is  also  made  from  it,  and  in  the  Caroliuas  it  Is 
used  for  sealing-wax. 

The  Tallow  Tree  (Croton  Sebiferum)  yields  a  substance  very  much  like 
tallow,  and  in  China,  where  it  grows  abundantly,  candles  are  extensively 
produced  from  it.  The  Piney  Tree  (vateria  Indica)  growing  on  the  ea?t 
coast  of  Malabar,  yields  a  substance  very  similar  to  the  foregoing,  and  is 
also  very  extensively  employed  in  the  production  of  candles,  being  supe- 
rior, in  many  respects,  to  animal  tallow.  A  resin,  very  similar  to  copnl 
varnish,  exudes  from  the  same  tree,  and  furnishes  a  very  durable  varnish. 
This  resin  is  often  mixed  with  the  tallow,  and  applied  as  a  substitute  for 
tar  in  smearing  the  bottoms  of  boats.* 

4 

Such,  in  brief,  are  the  existing  coniferous  trees,  and 
there  is  abundant  reason  to  believe  that  they  are  analo- 
gous to  those  of  the  coal-bearing  period.  The  leading 
characteristic  of  the  whole  order,  it  will  be  observed  (aside 
from  their  structural  features),  is  their-  secretion  of  resins, 
oils'  tallows,  and  turpentines,  in  varied  qualities.  These 
exudations,  by  a  distillation  presently  to  be  described, 
have  furnished  the  various  beds  of  coal,  mineral  bitumen, 
asphalt,  and  anthracite,  distributed  over  the  earth.  As  I 
remarked  before,  I  do  not  think  that  the  ferns  contributed 
materially  to  the  formation  of  the  coal,  inasmuch  as  they 
secreted  no  resinous  or  inflammable  juices.  It  is  a  curi- 
ous fact,  that  immediately  over  the  coal  veins  of  the  Alle- 
ghany  mountains,  which  extend  over  eight  hundred  miles 
in  length,  the  trees  which  abound  most  largely  in  these 
resinous  secretions,  are  now  found  growing  in  native 
strength  and  vigor,  and  constitute  the  prevailing  species 
of  the  forests  ;  while  underneath  their  tall  and  overarching 
tops  many  species  of  the  fossil  Fern  are  also  found  in  ex- 
traordinary abundance  !  Of  the  two  hundred  species  of 
fossilized  Fern  in  my  collection,  there  are  many  that  can 

*  I  abridge  my  description  of  the  living  Coniferae  mainly  from  Jthind's 
History  of  the  Vegetable  Kingdom,  and  the  Library  of  Entertaining  Know- 
ledge, London  editions, 


DIVERSITY   OF   VEGETATION   EXPLAINED.  117 

be  found  growing  immediately  over  the  rocks  in  which 
they  were  imbedded  !  This  is  a  singular  fact,  and  sug- 
gests the  idea  obscurely  intimated  by  Moses,  that  the 
seeds  of  vegetation  are  within  themselves  upon  the  earth — 
that  is,  the  seeds  of  vegetation  of  a  previous  age,  may  be 
buried  in  the  soil  to  germinate  anew  at  subsequent  pe- 
riods !  The  comparative  absence  of  the  trunks  of  pine  trees 
in  the  coal,  may  be  accounted  for  on  the  supposition  of  their 
enormous  dimensions  as  well  as  distance  from  the  scene 
of  resinous  accumulation ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  we 
can  trace  a  close  alliance  between  them  and  the  extinct 
Lepidodendria,  the  Sigillaria,  and  the  Stigmaria.  I  have 
found  many  cones  in  the  coal,  of  the  most  perfect  and 
dissimilar  structure — showing  that,  like  the  cone-bearing 
trees  now  living,  there  were  originally  many  different  va- 
rieties. But  the  extraordinary  abundance  and  variety 
of  the  Ferns  now  growing  in  the  coal  regions,  and  their 
absolute  identity  with  the  fossil  specimens,  leads  me  to 
believe  that,  wherever  the  strata  of  the  coal  or  Devonian 
measures  have  been  uptilted,  or  brought  to  the  surface, 
and  the  soil  preserved  in  its  native  condition,  free  from 
obstructions  or  cultivation,  the  original  seeds  of  the  an- 
cient vegetation  have  again  germinated.  The  very  fact 
that  the  words  of  Moses  seem  to  authorize  such  an  infer- 
ence, leads  me  to  give  it  paramount  weight.  How  else 
could  these  seeds  have  been  diffused  ?  It  will  not  serve 
our  purpose  to  suppose  that  birds  and  animals  could,  by 
any  possible  means,  disseminate  seeds  in  such  profusion, 
and  in  localities  so  exactly  corresponding  with  the  same 
plants  and  trees  imbedded  in  the  shales  below !  This 
would  have  been  next  to  impossible  ;  especially  as  every 
geological  formation  appears  to  have  had  originally,  and 
has  still,  when  unobstructed  by  cultivation,  a  vegetation 
peculiar  to  itself.  Wherever  there  is  coal,  or,  rather, 
wherever  the  coal  measures  outcrop,  the  ferns  ard  resin- 


118          THE  THIRD  DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

ous  pines  abound  ;  and  are  frequently  found  to  be  similar 
to  the  fossil  specimens.  These,  however,  may  have  been 
removed  some  distance  from  the  place  of  their  growth, 
and  due  allowances  should  be  made  in  such  cases ;  yet 
the  great  fact  still  stands  forth  in  its  integrity,  and  seems 
to  defy  any  other  process  of  interpretation.  Wherever 
the  pines  or  coniferae  and  ferns  now  abound,  as  natives  of 
the  soil,  coal,  in  some  form  or  other,  is  morally  certain  to 
exist  in  close  proximity. 

Upon  the  basis  of  this  hypothesis,  we  can  readily 
account  for  all  the  diversity  which  exists  in  vegetation — for 
primarily,  every  geological  era  has  furnished  in  its  rocks 
and  shales  the  seeds  for  future  generations.  The  Almighty 
Creator  scattered  the  seeds  of  vegetation  in  the  beginning, 
and  every  subsequent  era  brings  forth  its  exhaustless 
crops — exhaustless,  because  the  soil  itself  is  exhaustless. 
It  was  only  at  the  creation  of  man  that  he  planted  a 
garden  in  Eden,  and  then,  for  the  first  time,  introduced 
fruits  and  grains,  and  the  varied  sorts  of  nuts,  melons, 
and  esculents,  so  essential  to  man  and  the  animal  creation. 
Previous  to  that  time  there  was  no  necessity  for  fruits, 
and  the  domestic  vegetables ;  land  animals,  properly  so 
understood,  having  had  no  existence.  With  the  creation 
of  man,  however,  (or  in  anticipation  of  his  creation,)  an 
entire  new  order  of  vegetation  was  introduced,  embracing 
every  fruit  and  garden  and  field  product  now  known,  and 
including  all  the  flowers  that  bloom  and  dispense  their 
fragrance  over  the  earth. 

But  it  may  be  urged  against  this  hypothesis,  that  the 
fossilization  of  the  seeds  would  utterly  have  destroyed 
their  fructifying  principle.  This,  at  first  thought,  would 
appear  likely ;  but  in  the  case  of  the  coal  vegetation,  it 
has  little  force.  In  the  first  place,  the  shales  overlying 
the  coal  are  not  always  hard  and  indurated ;  and  when 
they  are,  a  brief  exposure  to  the  air  decomposes  them. 


TAR-PITS   OF    NORTH   CAROLINA.  119 

All  the  coal  shales  are,  in  fact,  nothing  but  baked  mud, 
but  it  is  mud  composed  of  the  very  finest  particles  of 
earth.  When  the  vegetation  grew,  the  seeds  of  the  pines, 
concealed  in  the  resinous  cones,  were  scattered  in  this  soft 
mud,  and  the  turpentine  and  tar  with  which  they  were 
surrounded  served  to  coat  them,  and  to  place  around  them 
an  air-tight  envelope  which  would  preserve  them  as 
effectually  for  one  hundred  million  of  years  as  for  one 
year.  The  soft  mud  was  afterward  baked  by  the  heat 
below  and  the  pressure  from  above,  and  thus  became,  in 
process  of  time,  compact  slate.  The  same  process  will 
apply  equally  to  sandstones  mixed  with  argillaceous  clay 
and  vegetable  mould ;  and  as  every  geological  formation 
abounds  in  these  rocks,  the  preservation  of  the  smaller 
seeds,  by  an  air-tight  oleaginous  coating,  is  rendered  as 
probable  in  one  geological  formation  as  in  another.  In 
the  case  of  those  trees  which  bear  nuts,  as  the  oaks,  the 
chestnuts,  etc.,  they  had  no  existence  in  the  Paleozoic 
periods,  and  it  would  therefore  be  useless  to  assume  that 
they  had  been  similarly  preserved.  Wheat,  it  is  well 
known,  has  been  preserved  in  the  catacombs  of  Egypt  for 
several  hundred  years,  and  upon  being  planted,  has 
brought  forth  prolific  crops. 

Tar,  for  local  use,  is  produced  in  all  the  coal  regions ; 
but  in  North  and  South  Carolina  it  forms,  with  turpentine, 
pitch  or  resin,  an  article  of  very  extensive  export  to 
foreign  countries.  In  the  pine  forests  of  those  States,  the 
sap  or  turpentine  begins  to  circulate  in  the  tree  during  the 
month  of  March,  and  the  accumulation  proceeds  and  in- 
creases with  the  warm  weather,  generally  attaining  the 
the  maximum  in  the  month  of  August.  When  the  sd^> 
manifests  itself,  incisions  are  cut  in  the  base  of  the  tree, 
beneath  which  boxes  are  placed  to  receive  it  as  it  exudes. 
Sometimes  three  or  four  incisions  are  made,  of  variable 
depth,  and  at  different  spaces — from  all  of  which  the  tree 


120  THE   THIRD   DAT — GEOLOGICAL. 

freely  bleeds.  The  ground  around  the  tree  has  to  be 
carefully  cleared  of  all  dry  weeds  and  brush,  to  prevent 
any  liability  of  fire  from  the  inflammable  character  of  the 
liquid,  which  is  often  scattered  around,  through  the  care- 
lessness of  those  in  attendance.  At  the  commencement 
it  usually  requires  about  two  weeks  to  fill  the  boxes  with 
turpentine — each  of  them  holding  from  one  to  two  quarts 
of  the  liquor.  When  the  exterior  sap  is  extracted,  deeper 
incisions  are  again  made,  penetrating  through  at  least 
four  of  the  annual  rings  of  the  wood,  and  thus  tapping  the 
more  vital  parts  of  the  tree,  which,  however,  will  continue 
to  yield  sap  for  five  or  six  years  afterward.  When  the 
receiving  boxes  are  filled,  the  sap  is  transferred  by  wooden 
ladles  into  barrels ;  and  this  completes  the  process.  The 
turpentine  thus  obtained  is  of  the  purest  quality,  from 
which  the  oil  or  spirit  of  turpentine  is  afterward  distilled. 
The  process  for  extracting  tar  from  the  yellow  pine  or 
the  long-leaved  pines  of  the  Carolinas,  is  exactly  similar 
to  that  of  coking  bituminous  coal.  A  round  space  is 
cleared  in  the  forest,  gradually  sloping  to  one  side.  The 
space  thus  cleared  is  formed  into  a  concave  basin,  and  the 
ground  beaten  down  with  mallets  to  render  it  hard  and 
compact.  From  the  centre  of  the  cavity  a  ditch  is  dug 
in  the  direction  of  the  outward  slope.  Billets  of  pine 
wood,  stumps,  knots,  roots,  and  branches,  are  now  arranged 
in  circular  form,  layer  after  layer,  around  the  space  thus 
prepared.  The  sticks  are  set  up  on  end,  and  the  pile  of 
wood  and  branches  terminates  in  a  gradually  sloping 
dome.  The  dome  thus  erected  is  covered  over  by  leaves, 
branches,  and  loose  material,  and  the  whole  then  inclosed 
with  a  layer  of  moist  clay.  A  few  holes  are  left  around  it 
for  the  admission  of  air.  The  combustible  material  inside 
is  now  ignited,  and  it  burns  with  a  slow,  smouldering 
heat — never  being  allowed  to  burst  into  a  flame.  As  the 
combustion  proceeds,  the  tar  is  liberated  from  the  cavities 


THE   DEVONIAN   COAL  LAKES.  121 

of  the  wood,  and  draining  iiito  the  centre  of  the  conical 
pit,  thence  issues  in  a  continuous  stream  through  the  ditch 
or  trough  running  to  the  outside.  Here  it  is  immediately 
taken  up  and  placed  in  barrels,  and  is  thus  ready  for  the 
market.  In  the  Carolinas,  tar  is  principally  extracted 
from  dead  wood  that  has  fallen  by  accident,  tend  from  the 
tops  of  the  trees  that  have  otherwise  no  vajue.  The 
whole  process  is  extremely  simple ;  and  we  may  add,  was 
in  practice  among  the  most  ancient  nations  of  the  earth, 
as  well  as  among  the  more  recent.  But  long  before  the 
Greeks,  or  Romans,  or  Egyptians,  applied  it  in  their 
forests,  Nature  had  exemplified  it  in  her  great  coal  basins. 
And  it  is  a  singular  fact,  that  all  the  varied  contrivances 
of  man,  for  extracting,  elaborating,  and  compounding 
different  elementary  substances  in  minerals  and  vegetation 
are,  after  all,  but  the  primary  lessons  which  he  has  learned 
in  the  great  school  of  Nature.  He  has  done  nothing  in 
the  arts  of  design,  in  mechanism,  dynamics,  hydrostatics, 
or  the  crucible,  in  which  he  has  not  been  anticipated. 
Nature  furnishes  all  his  models  ;  and  he  is  a  mere  appren- 
tice in  copying.  But  his  efforts,  although  necessarily 
local  and  experimental,  are  sometimes  noble  and  even  god- 
like ;  but  those  of  Nature,  the  great  teacher,  are  always 
infallible  and  universal,  and  she  has  entire  globes  for  her 
laboratory. 

Let  us  now  return  to  the  Devonian  basins,  which  we 
described  some  time  ago,  and  which  we  left  fully  prepared 
to  receive  the  veins  of  coal  so  soon  as  we  could  elaborate 
them  from  the  ancient  vegetation.  It  was  stated  that  these 
basins  were  in  many  respects  similar  to  the  great  inland 
seas  of  the  northwest;  that  the  anthracite  basin  was 
much  the  deepest,  and  stood  at  the  head  of  all  the  others, 
somewhat  like  that  of  Lake  Superior.  These  coal  basins, 
although  they  did  not  extend  in  a  direct  line,  nevertheless 
communicated  with  each  other  in  a  manner  precisely  simi- 


122  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

lar  to  those  Lakes.  Superior  is  connected  with  Lake 
Huron  by  the  St.  Mary's  river,  which  is  about  sixty  miles 
long,  and  generally  not  over  half  a  mile  wide.  The  descent  of 
the  stream  is  perhaps  more  than  thirty  feet,  or  six  inches  to 
the  mile.  Lake  Huron  is  connected  with  Lake  Michigan  by 
the  straits  of  Mackinaw,  which  are  of  greater  width,  but 
interspersed  with  numerous  islands  and  rocky  promonto- 
ries. Lake  Huron  thus  receives  the  waters  of  two  great 
Lakes,  and  then  passes  them  into  a  little  shallow  Lake, 
not  over  twenty  feet  deep  at  any  place,  nor  over  thirty 
miles  wide,  by  means  of  the  St.  Clair  river — a  stream 
some  forty  miles  in  length,  but  a  few  hundred  yards  in 
width,  and  perhaps  forty  or  fifty  feet  deep.'  From  Lake 
St.  Clair,  the  waters  are  passed  through  the  Detroit  river 
into  the  basin  of  Lake  Erie.  Here  they  are  thrown  over 
the  falls  of  Niagara,  and  then,  by  another  very  narrow 
river,  not  over  twelve  hundred  feet  in  width  and  fourteen 
miles  in  length,  they  are  emptied  into  Lake  Ontario. 
They  are  now  again  discharged  into  a  river,  (the  St. 
Lawrence),  and  after  expanding  somewhat  into  the  form 
of  lakes,  at  intervals,  are  finally  emptied  into  the  ocean 
— describing  another  great  basin  or  gulf  before  finally 
mingling  with  its  saline  waters.  The  distance  thus  tra- 
versed, from  the  head  of  Lake  Superior  to  the  gulf  of  the 
St.  Lawrence,  is  sixteen  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  The 
distance  from  the  head  of  the  anthracite  basins  by  the 
route  originally  pursued  by  the  primitive  lakes  and  rivers, 
to  the  Missouri  river,  was  nearly  the  same,  and  when 
they  reached  this  point,  they  encountered  the  waters  of 
the  ocean,  which  then  formed  a  gulf  over  portions  of  the 
States  of  Missouri,  Arkansas,  Mississippi,  Louisiana, 
Texas,  and  Nebraska,  very  similar  to  that  of  Mexico  or  the 
St  Lawrence. 

;     After  the  Silurian  seas  had  been  withdrawn,  the  great 
lakes  or  basins  left  behind,  began  gradually  to  fill  up  by 


ORIGIN   OF   COAL  EXPLAINED.  123 

the  deposition  of  the  sediment  drained  from  the  adjacent 
rocks — comprising,  at  some  places,  limestone  and  silt,  and 
at  others,  sandstone  or  conglomerate  and  silt.  The  prairies 
were  now  covered  with  immense  forests  of  coniferous 
trees,  the  woody  cells  and  fibres  of  which,  like  those  of 
our  existing  pines  and  firs,  consisted  mainly  of  resinous 
and  oily  secretions.  These  forests  in  all  probability  ex- 
tended hundreds  of  miles  around  the  sloping  plains  of  the 
lakes  ;  and  were  liable  to  the  same  contingencies  of  ulti- 
mate decay  and  destruction  as  existing  forests.  It  is 
perhaps  hardly  worth  while  to  remark,  that  they  were,  in 
every  respect,  the  most  enormous  fields  of  vegetation 
which  have  ever  yet  flourished  upon  the  face  of  the  globe. 
While  those  of  the  humid  plains  of  Central  American  and 
Brazil  may  convey  an  idea  of  their  extent,  they  certainly 
could  make  no  pretensions  as  rivals.  If  some  of  the 
pines  we  have  described,  can  now  attain  the  height  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  feet,  there  is  no  absolute  reason  why 
they  should  not,  at  this  particular  era,  have  soared  still 
higher  in  the  air,  because  all  the  circumstances  that  sur- 
rounded them  were  in  the  highest  degree  favorable  to  the 
most  extraordinary  development.  The  forests  of  South 
America  are  described  as  absolutely  impenetrable  by  man ; 
while  in  California  trees  have  recently  been  found  of  four  < 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  height — or  nearly  twice  the 
height  of  our  loftiest  steeples,  and  fully  equal  to  the  tower 
of  Babel.  While  the  trees  themselves  thus  tower  hun- 
dreds of  feet  in  the  air,  the  trunks  are  surrounded  by 
younger  shoots  and  weeds,  which  stand  so  close  together 
that  even  the  wild  animals  have  difficulty  in  traversing 
them — some,  indeed,  more  skillful  than  others,  retreat  to 
the  thickets  to  escape  from  their  enemies.  The  coal  vege- 
tation, in  addition  to  tropical  prolificacy,  was  not  depre- 
dated upon  by  prowling  animals.  It  grew  in  undisturbed 
luxuriance,  and  attained  such  development  that  those  only 


124  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

who  have  witnessed  the  wild  and  unchecked  profusion  of 
nature  amid  the  tropics,  can  form  any  conception  what- 
ever of  its  enormous  extent.  The  atmosphere  under 
which  the  vegetation  flourished  was  in  many  essentials 
different  from  that  which  we  now  breathe.  The  propor- 
tion of  carbonic  acid  was  enormous,  and  while  this  seized 
to  stimulate  vegetable  growth,  it  rendered  the  existence  of 
animal  life  impossible.  It  may  not  always  have  been 
materially  warmer,  as  is  generally  supposed  by  geologists ; 
but  it  certainly  was  more  humid,  and  perhaps  enveloped 
for  the  most  part,  in  fogs  and  mists,  such  as  prevail  along 
the  coasts  of  Newfoundland,  where  the  yellow  pines  even 
now  attain  their  greatest  and  highest  development.  But 
whatever  heat  existed,  must  have  been  mainly  derived 
from  the  earth  itself ;  as  we  shall  hereafter  demonstrate 
that  solar  heat  had  as  yet  scarcely  established  itself  upon 
the  earth.  The  radiated  heat  of  the  interior  would  en- 
velope the  surface  in  vapors,  and  these,  we  have  every 
reason  to  infer,  contributed  largely  to  the  growth  of  the 
vegetation.  Growing  under  circumstances  of  extraordi- 
nary favor,  the  forests  would  at  times  yield  to  that  un- 
sparing law  which  levels  every  thing  with  the  dust. 
Whether  by  tempests  or  the  overpowering  gravity  of  their 
elevated  tops,  or  the  prostration  of  one  upon  the  other — 
it  is  certain  that  entire  forests  would  finally  bend  to  the 
ground,  to  give  place  to  a  new  crop.  Accumulating  thus 
on  the  sloping  prairies,  constantly  moist  and  wet  with  the 
atmospheric  exhalation  and  condensation,  the  prostrate 
vegetable  material  would  be  exposed  to  fermentation  and 
distillation  similar  to  that  of  the  tar  pits.  Trunks  and 
fragments  of  trees,  covered  over  by  their  branches  and 
leaves,  and  the  accumulating  rubbish  of  the  forest,  under 
tlie  smouldering  fermentation  thus  evolved  by  the  interior 
heat  of  the  earth,  would  part  with  their  resinous  and  oily 
juices,  while  the  atmosphere  would  be  blackened  with  the 


ORIGIN   OF   COAL   EXPLAINED.  125 

smoke  and  gas.  The  whole  earth  was  thus  enveloped  in 
the  fermenting  process.  The  gases  ascending  from  the 
smouldering  vegetation,  would  be  arrested  by  the  fogs  and 
vapors  of  the  atmosphere,  and  thrown  down  upon  the 
earth  in  the  form  of  soot  and  lampblack.  The  soot  would 
accumulate  like  layers  of  snow ;  and  uniting  with  the  oily 
liquids  issuing  from  the  vegetable  mass,  would  thus  be 
borne  off  to  the  waters  of  the  adjacent  lakes.  All  the 
streams,  springs,  rivers,  and  lakes  were  discharging  co- 
agulated carbonaceous  ink.  In  the  absence  of  solar 
evaporation,  nothing  was  lost.  As  the  vegetable  mate- 
rial went  on  accumulating,  its  resinous  juices  were  libe- 
rated by  spontaneous  fermentation,  and,  both  in  the  form 
of  liquids  and  gases,  the  elements  of  the  vegetation  would 
be  drained  down  into  the  lakes  or  basins.  We  can  thus 
imagine  the  ground  which  supported  these  vasts  forests  of 
pine  to  be  literally  moist,  spongy,  and  miry  with  the  es- 
caping tar,  and  oils,  and  smoky  soot ;  and  that  in  every 
direction,  for  hundreds  of  miles  around  the  sloping  plains 
drained  by  the  lakes,  the  pyroligneous  liquid  oozed  out 
of  the  ground  in  constant  springs  and  streams.  The  whole 
earth,  wherever  the  dry  land  had  yet  appeared,  was  thus 
covered  with  stupendous  tar-pits,  while  the  atmosphere, 
already  humid  with  the  vapors  of  radiated  heat,  was 
blackened  with  ascending  smokes  or  enveloped  in  snows 
of  black  carbonaceous  soot.  The  surface  of  the  ground, 
in  every  direction,  having  been  thus  periodically,  if  not 
almost  constantly  under  the  influence  of  the  resinous  fer- 
mentation, distillation,  and  combustion,  there  was,  of 
course,  but  little  sand  and  sediment.  It  was  only  occasion- 
ally that  the  stratum  of  vegetable  mould' would  be  re- 
moved, and  the  underlying  sand  and  clay  exposed.  In 
such  cases  the  mud  and  sand  would  be  carried  into  the 
lake,  and  scattered  over,  the  accumulating  coal  seam,  or 
distributed  in  irregular  heaps  or  layers  ;  while  the  mould 


126  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

resulting  from  the  decomposition  of  trees,  and  charged 
with  fragments^of  half-decomposed  stems  and  branches, 
would  in  like  manner  be  sometimes  removed.  As  a  gene- 
ral thing,  the  fine  mud  and  vegetable  mould  was  scattered 
uniformly  and  evenly  over  the  bottom  of  the  lake,  during 
the  occasional  pauses  in  the  supply  of  resinous  matter. 
The  mud  thus  distributed  is  now  the  parting  slate  between 
the  benches  ofihe  pure  coal ;  while  the  faults  are  derived 
from  the  layers  of  sand  and  silt,  and  the  deposits  of  half 
resinous  mould  and  mud  into  which  the  pure  coal  often 
degenerates.  The  rock  faults,  however,  in  many  cases, 
originally  existed  in  the  bottom  of  the  lake — the  resinous 
material  merely  collecting  around  and  accommodating 
itself  to  them.  The  resinous  matter,  as  a  general  thing, 
was  evenly  distributed  over  the  bottom  ;  but  there  were, 
of  course,  occasional  exceptions.  Sometimes  it  would 
thin  out,  and  give  place  to  the  original  clay  or  sand  of  the 
bottom ;  while  again  it  would  expand  into  twice  its  regu- 
lar thickness.  These  deviations,  intrusions,  and  irregu- 
larities comprise  what  are  now  termed  the  faults  of  the 
coal  veins — features  which  are  entirely  overlooked  in  all 
the  other  theories  of  the  coal  formation. 

Now,  after  the  process  here  described  had  gone  on  until 
a  thick  layer  of  resinous  material  accumulated  (somewhat* 
similar  to  the  pitch  lake  of  Trinidad),  the  outlets  or  nar- 
row straits  of  the  lakes  became  clogged,  and  the  result 
was  an  unusual  accumulation  of  water.  The  straits  con- 
necting the  coal  lakes  were  essentially  similar  to  those 
connecting  the  lakes  of  the  northwest ;  and  it  is  easy  to 
conceive  how  these  could  be  temporarily  choked  up  so  as 
to  temporarily  impede  the  passage  of  the  water.  The 
formation  of  a  sand-bar,  rendering  the  water  shallow,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  Lake  St.  Clair;  or  the  drifting  of  logs 
and  trees  into  the  narrow  perpendicular  necks  of  the 
river  (like  that  of  Niagara),  would  readily  suffice.  This 


ORIGIN   OP   COAL  EXPLAINED.  127 

is  a  phenomenon  of  such  frequent  occurrence  in  all  our 
mountain  streams,  that  I  take  it  for  granted  it  will  appear 
self-evident  in  this  connection.  The  waters  of  the  Missis- 
sippi and  the  Missouri,  by  freshets  or  temporary  ob- 
structions, are  sometimes  diverted  from  their  course,  and 
overflow  the  surrounding  plains  for  forty  and  fifty  miles. 
The  passages  of  the  coal  lakes,  thus  obstructed  in  the 
narrow  rivers,  the  waters  would  at  once  overflow  the  whole 
surrounding  forests.  The  effect  of  this  is  readily  percep- 
tible— all  the  rubbish  of  the  forests,  with  the  leaves, 
branches,  stems,  and  logs,  and  the  great  bulk  of  the  mud 
and  mould  of  decomposed  vegetation,  would  be  removed 
and  borne  off  into  the  lake.  "Upon  the  subsidence  of  the 
water,  they  would  settle  over  the  vein  of  coal ;  and  the 
debris  thus  collected  now  forms  the  top  slate  in  which  are 
found  all  the  fossil  impressions  known  of  the  coal  vege- 
tation. The  inquiry  of  the  geologists  for  large  trees,  and 
their  surprise  at  not  finding  them  in  the  coal,  is  thus 
easily  explained.  The  trees  that  exuded  the  resin  were 
really  but  seldom  displaced,  while  the  overflowing  of  the 
water  did  little  injury  to  the  forests  themselves  beyond 
the  removal  of  their  loose  and  scattered  trees,  limbs,  leaves, 
and  vegetable  mould. 

As  the  waters  of  the  lake  forced  their  way  through  the 
connecting  straits,  and  subsided  to  their  customary  level, 
they  again  began  to  wear  down  the  adjacent  shore,  and 
received  the  debris  of  the  mud  and  sand  exposed  in  con- 
sequence of  the  removal  of  the  decomposed  vegetable 
mould.  This  process  continued  with  activity  until  the 
forests  had  accumulated  another  layer  of  resinous  mate- 
rial. In  the  mean  time,  however,  the  low  flats  immedi- 
ately adjoining  the  lake  brought  forward  their  crops  of  soft 
and  succulent  vegetation,  the  most  conspicuous  of  which 
was  the  plant  called  Stigmaria.  Recent  investigations 
have  led  some  geologists  to  suppose,  as  I  have  already 
9 


128          THE  THIRD  DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

remarked,  that  this  plant  is  the  root  of  the  Sigillaria. 
But  I  am  of  a  different  opinion.  I  have  ever/  reason  to 
believe  that  it  was  a  species  of  vine,  which  extended  itself 
over  the  low  and  half -submerged  flats  along  the  margins 
of  the  coal  lakes  ;  and  that  it  was  borne  off  in  the  water 
and  deposited  before  the  regular  supplies  of  resinous  mat- 
ter reached  the  lake — hence  it  is  almost  invariably  found 
under  the  veins  of  coal.  The  phenomenon  of  finding  trees 
in  an  erect  position,  in  this  under  clay  or  shale,  may  be 
explained  in  the  same  way.  They  grew  on  these  marshy 
flats,  like  the  trees  on  the  flats  of  St.  Glair ;  and  the  wear- 
ing aivay  of  the  shore  on  which  they  stood,  during  times 
of  high  water,  caused  their  removal  into  the  lake,  where 
they  would  natually  settle  to  the  bottom  in  an  erect  posi- 
tion. This  is  daily  exhibited  in  the  Mississippi,  and  the 
Amazon  river  in  Brazil.  Trees  are  undermined  by  the 
water,  and  they  fall  down  and  are  borne  off  by  the 
stream,  their  foliage  maintaining  them  in  an  erect  position. 
Sometimes  their  roots  find  a  lodgment  in  the  bottom  of 
the  river,  and  they  are  thus  supported  until  sufficient  sand 
has  gathered  around  them  to  enable  them  to  stand  erect 
after  the  subsidence  of  the  water.  The  whole  phenomena 
of  finding  trees  penetrating  through  the  coal  vein,  and  of 
lying  over  and  under  them,  is  to  be  explained  in  this  way. 
They  are  the  results  of  accident,  not  of  geological  law. 
All  the  trees  ever  found  in  these  situations,  had  they  been 
converted  into  coal  (which  they  never  are},  would  not 
have  made  a  seam  as  thick  as  a  sheet  of  paper  in  the  great 
basins  in  which  they  occur.  But  the  fact  that  they  never 
furnish  coal  at  all,  except  where  they  have  been  flattened 
by  pressure,  and  their  resinous  sap  thus  squeezed  out,  is 
conclusive  that  their  solid  woody  fibre  contributed  nothing 
directly  to  its  formation. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  observe  that  the  process  here 
described  was  repeated  again  and  again,  upon  the  deposi- 


ORIGIN   OF   COAL   EXPLAINED.  129 

tion  of  every  subsequent  layer  of  coal.  Indeed,  it  was 
often  partially  carried  out  without  the  interposition  of  the 
coal — for  the  alternating  strata  show  many  little  veins  of 
slate  and  leaders  of  impure  coal  which  have  been  derived 
solely  from  the  vegetable  mould  of  the  forests.  Again : 
The  overflowing  of  the  forest  was  not  an  absolute  essential 
to  every  seam  of  coal.  By  no  means.  These  overflowings 
were  irregular,  and  generally  terminated,  for  the  time 
being,  the  flow  of  the  oils  and  resins.  For  this  reason,  the 
seams  of  coal  vary  in  thickness  from  a  few  inches  to  forty 
feet — the  latter,  however,  are  invariably  separated  into 
benches  or  laminae  of  coal,  varying  from  one  inch  to  three  feet. 
These  benches  may  be  regarded  as  separate  veins,  because 
they  are  parted  by  layers  of  slate,  mud,  or  sand,  which 
sometimes  run  into  very  thick  strata.  We  have  already 
alluded  to  this  fact,  and  mention  it  again  only  to  show 
that  no  regularity  is  claimed  for  the  floods.  They  some- 
times occurred  during  the  deposition  of  the  largest  veins  ; 
but  whenever  they  did  occur,  the  debris  of  the  forests  and 
the  surrounding  rocks  was  invariably  brought  into  the 
lake.  Again  :  Some  of  the  veins  of  coal  were  deposited 
without  the  occurrence  of  floods  at  all.  In  these  cases 
there  is,  of  course,  a  comparative  absence  of  top  slates  and 
of  fossils.  The  vein  of  coal  is  then  often  overlaid  by 
sandstone  —  or  limestone  —  the  immediate  debris  of  the 
basin  terraces.  The  liability  of  the  submergence  of  the 
forests  was,  however,  very  great.  The  sloping  prairies 
were  in  no  instance  elevated  more  than  from  five  to  ten 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  lakes.  The  Mississippi  river, 
for  more  than  fifteen  hundred  miles,  does  not  descend  at 
an  average  of  over  half  an  inch  to  the  mile.  Even  the 
Ohio,  which  emerges  from  and  traverses  a  great  mountain 
slope,  has  a  fall  of  only  four  or  five  inches  to  the  mile.  A 
flood  of  ten  or  fifteen  feet  on  the  lower  Mississippi,  will 
inundate  the  surrounding  country  for  a  distance  of  twenty 


130  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

or  thirty  miles.  The  adjacent  plantations  are  protected 
by  means  of  levees ;  but  when  a  crevasse  occurs,  the 
mighty  river  extends  itself  for  many  miles  over  the  level 
prairies,  and  carries  off  fences,  logs,  and  all  the  loose 
rubbish  it  encounters.  The  river  is  often  diverted  from 
its  regular  channel  by  the  deposition  of  sand-bars  or  other 
obstructions  ;  and  so  it  was  with  those  of  the  coal  lakes. 
Their  liability  to  such  obstructions,  as  well  as  to  great 
freshets,  is  sufficiently  apparent  by  the  known  circum- 
stances which  involve,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  all  ex- 
isting streams.  These  we  can  see  and  clearly  comprehend ; 
and  if  similar  contingencies  be  allowed  for  the  primitive 
rivers  and  lakes,  we  have  no  further  difficulty  whatever  in 
accounting  for  the  varied  strata  alternating  with  the  seams 
of  coal,  nor  for  all  the  other  phenomena  associated  with 
them.  We  can  thus  dispense  with  terrific  earthquakes, 
volcanoes,  upheavals,  and  depressions  of  the  land,  and 
satisfactorily  explain  all  the  circumstances  of  the  origin 
and  deposition  of  the  coal,  according  to  existing  principles 
of  natural  causes  and  effects. 

But  I  have  thus  far  been  describing  only  those  basins 
which  are  of  fresh-water  origin — as  the  anthracite  regions 
on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Alleghanies.  All  the  bitu- 
minous coal  on  the  ivestern  slopes  of  those  mountains 
contain  marine  as  well  as  fresh-water  fossils.  I  hyve 
already  observed  that,  at  the  beginning  of  the  Devonian 
period,  the  estuaries  of  the  sea  extended  over  the  whole 
region  of  country  now  comprising  these  mountains,  and 
that  they  were  gradually  receding  westward,  to  the  great 
gulf  which  overflowed  Nebraska,  Texas,  Louisiana,  and 
several  other  southwestern  states.  When  the  coal  forests 
attained  their  vigor,  these  arms  of  the  sea  were  met  by  the 
drainage  of  the  land.  The  basins  began  to  be  separated 
by  shoal  water,  then  by  sand  or  concretionary  limestone 
bars ;  then  the  waters  of  the  sea  were  wholly  withdrawn, 


ORIGIN   OP   COAL   EXPLAINED.  131 

and  the  bars  cut  through  by  connecting  rivers.  The  high 
tides  may  still  have  penetrated  far  eastward,  especially  as 
the  basins  were  yet  on  a  comparative  level  with  the  sea ; 
but  when  the  coal  began  to  accumulate  in  the  upper 
basins,  its  influx  was  separated  by  longer  intervals,  and 
the  quantities  of  marine  fossils  show  a  consequent  dimi- 
nution and  an  ultimate  thinning  out  in  that  direction. 
The  veins  of  fossiliferous  lime  in  the  coal  measures  of 
McKean,  are  seldom  over  two  feet  in  thickness ;  on  the 
Monongahela,  and  at  Cumberland  and  Broad  Top,  they 
vary  from  two  to  twenty  feet ;  while  at  Wheeling  they 
expand  to  forty,  fifty,  and  sixty  feet  in  thickness.  There 
are,  however,  local  variations ;  sometimes  the  limestone 
does  not  occur  at  all  in  the  eastern  basins,  while  it  may 
appear  at  other  places  three  or  four  feet  thick.  The  coal 
is  deposited  in  thin  seams,  and  was  perhaps  cut  off  by  the 
influx  of  the  sea,  since  the  fossiliferous  limestone  occurs 
directly  over  some  of  the  veins,  without  the  interposition 
of  the  carbonaceous  shale.  This  is  a  very  common  fea- 
ture in  all  the  bituminous  basins,  not  only  in  the  United 
States,  but  elsewhere  throughout  the  world.  The  coal 
itself,  in  Missouri  and  Illinois,  is  penetrated  by  cubical 
laminae  of  silex,  thus  showing  its  presence  in  the  water 
of  the  basins  wherever  the  coal  was  deposited. 

In  going  westward,  we  find  the  sea  lingering  for  long 
periods  in  the  coal  basins.  Indeed,  in  many  cases,  the 
coal  was  deposited  in  calcareous  or  silicious waters,  some- 
what modified  by  the  drainage  of  the  land.  The  absence 
of  fish  and  crustaceous  animals  in  the  coal,  can  be  ac- 
counted for  from  the  fact  of  its  waters  having  been  im- 
pregnated with  the  prevailing  tar  and  pyroligneous  juices 
of  the  vegetation.  Upon  the  destruction  of  the  vegeta- 
tion, and  the  purification  of  the  waters,  all  these  animals 
again  made  their  appearance — though  never  in  great 
abundance.  That  the  waters  of  the  sea,  during  the  coal 


132  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

measures,  never  reached  so  far  up  as  the  anthracite 
basins,  is  evident  from  the  absence  of  limestone,  and  of  all 
the  marine  fossils  which  are  found  in  those  below.  The 
veins  in  the  upper  bituminous  basins  are  few  and  thin.  The 
coal  material,  instead  of  being  deposited  in  the  immediate 
basins,  on  the  margins  of  which  it  grew,  was  borne  down- 
ward by  the  current,  and  helped  to  form  the  larger  veins 
at  Pittsburg,  Cumberland,  and  the  Monongahela.  Below 
these  points,  a  thinning  out  again  occurred,  which  subse- 
quently formed  the  separating  axis  or  rim  between  two 
basins ;  and  thus  all  the  region  from  Pittsburg,  Wheeling, 
Pomeroy,  Kanawha,  and  Alabama  was  cut  up  and  divided 
into  numerous  basins,  connected  by  narrow  straits,  pre- 
cisely like  the  fresh-water  lakes  of  the  Northwest.  The 
estuaries  and  tides  of  the  sea  were  gradually  withdrawn 
as  the  upper  basins  filled  up  ;  and  the  number  of  distinct 
veins  they  contain  is  in  proportion  to  their  depth  and  the 
time  occupied  in  the  filling  up.  The  anthracite  basin  was 
very  deep.  When  the  coal  began  to  accumulate,  it  could 
not  have  been  less  than  fifteen  or  eighteen  hundred  feet. 
The  depth  of  Lake  Superior  is  one  thousand ;  and  not- 
withstanding the  extraordinary  purity  of  its  waters,  and 
their  freedom  from  sediment,  it  must  originally  have  been 
at  least  twice  the  present  depth.  The  depth  of  all  the 
other  lakes  is  considerably  less — that  of  St.  Glair  not 
being  over  twenty  feet,  while  the  surrounding  flats,  em- 
bracing millions  of  acres  of  surface,  have  apparently  just 
emerged  from  the  water.  And  it  was  thus  with  the  lower 
and  some  of  the  intermediate  coal  lakes  ;  but  while  many 
of  them,  like  St.  Glair,  filled  up  at  an  early  day,  the  an- 
thracite basin  continued  deep,  like  Superior,  and  it  went 
on  quietly  accumulating  its  coal,  layer  after  layer. 

The  numerous  deposits  and  veins  of  asphalt,  chapapote, 
bitumen,  petroleum,  pitch,  condidum,  and  other  liquid  and 
solid  combustibles,  occurring  in  various  quarters  of  the 


men  LAKE  OF  TRINIDAD.  133 

globe,  may  here  be  briefly  referred  to  in  further  illustra- 
tions of  the  formation  of  coal.     The  celebrated  pitch  lake 
of  Trinidad,  lying  upon  one  of  the  West  Indian  Islands 
of  that  name,  is  said  to  be  three  miles  in  circumference ; 
but  its  thickness  or  depth  is  unknown,  from   the  difficulty 
of  measuring  it.     It  occupies  the  highest  land  in  the  is- 
land, and  emits  a  strong  resinous  odor,  sensible  at  a  dis- 
tance of  ten  miles.     Its  first  appearance  is  that  of  a  lake 
of  water ;   but  when  viewed  at  a  nearer  point,  it  seems  to 
be  a  surface  of  glass.     In  hot  weather,  it  liquifies  to  the 
depth  of   an  inch  or  more,   and  cannot  then  be  walked 
upon.     The  geological  data  in  the  vicinity  exhibit  traces 
of  volcanic  action ;   and  not  only  in  the  lake  itself,  but  in 
the  neighborhood,  are  seen  holes  and  fissures,  sometimes 
containing  liquid  bitumen  or  petrol  oil.     Fissures  of  great 
length,  from  four  to  six  feet  wide,  traverse  the  surface  of 
this  lake,  in  every  direction,  and   are  generally  filled  with 
water.     The  consistence  and  general  appearance  of  the 
pitch  or  bitumen,  when  hard,  is  similar  to  that  of  coal, 
only  the  color   is  rather   greyer.     It  is  very  brittle,  and 
breaks  into  small  cellular  glassy  fragments.     Some  of  the 
more  elevated  parts  of  the  surface  are  covered  with  thin 
brittle  scoria}.     The  pitch  is  used  for  coating  ships,  and 
thereby  protecting  them  from  that  pest  of  the  West  Indian 
seas,  the  teredo,  or  borer;  it  is  also  applied  as  an  ordinary 
varnish,  and  in  some  other  minor  uses.     Not  far  from  this 
lake,  and  near  the  sea  shore,  both  coal  and  schistose  plum- 
bago are  found  in  considerable  abundance.      Lignite,  or 
brown  coal,  also  exists.     Near  the  same  island,  south  of 
Cape  de  la  Brea,  is  a  submarine  volcano,  which  occasion- 
ally  boils   up   and   discharges   a   quantity   of  petroleum. 
Another  occurs  on  the  east  side  of  the  island,  which  throw 
up  on  the  shore  masses  of  bitumen,  black  and  brilliant  aa 
jet.     It  would  appear  that  the  island  is  underlaid  with 
seams  of  petroleum  oils  and  gas,  which  are  thus  injected 


j,    134  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

to  the  surface  by  the  expansive  force  of  the  latter.  The 
pitch  of  the  lake  evaporates  the  carburetted  hydrogen, 
thus  parting  with  a  portion  of  the  oil  with  which  it  was 
originally  associated.  This  is  sufficiently  manifest  in  the 
fact  that  efforts  long  since  made  to  use  it  as  ordinary 
vegetable  tar  or  pitch,  have  failed  to  make  it  available  or 
profitable,  because  it  requires  too  much  oil  to  be  mixed 
with  it.  The  substance  is  passing,  by  gradual  transitions, 
from  its  original  condition  of  petroleum  into  that  of  bitu- 
minous coal. 

The  Chapapote  of  Cuba,  commonly  called  coal,  is  mined 
in  the  same  manner  as  the  latter  mineral,  and  appears  in 
several  positions  in  the  rocks  in  the  vicinity  of  Havana  and 
Matanzas,  in  enormous  deposits.     It  occurs  in  the  fissures 
of  stratified  rocks,  in  wedge-shaped  veins,  enlarging  from 
the  surface  downward,  thereby  indicating  its  origin  from 
below,  among  magnesian  and  metamorphic  rocks  of  ser- 
pentine, diorites,  and  euphotides,  accompanied  with  quartz 
and  chalcedony,  and  sometimes  copper.     The  heat  which 
metamorphosed   the   rocks   also   expelled   the    petroleum, 
which   thus  solidified  in  the  caverns   and  fissures  of  the 
upper  strata.     Chemical  essays  of  this  chapapote  show : 
of  carbon,  34.91 ;  volatile  matter,  63.00;  ashes  or  cinders, 
2.03  =  100.     A  mine  situated  six  miles  from  Havana,  and 
which  was  described  by  M.  Castales,  in  1842,  was  found  to 
contain  a  deposit  forty-eight  yards  deep,  perpendicularly, 
and  more  than  one  hundred  and  eighty  feet  in  horizontal 
extent.     The  bottom,  however,  had  never  been  reached, 
but  the  explorations  made  indicated  one  of  the  greatest 
deposits  of  mineral  asphalt  or  bitumen  ever  found  in  the 
world.     While  the  chapapote  exists  in  many  places  on  the 
island,  whenever  a  disturbance  of  the  strata  has  occurred, 
flowing  springs  of  petroleum  are  no  less  abundant.     Some 
of  these  springs  have  been  known  for  more  than  two  cen- 
turies.    Indeed,  the  whole  island  is  penetrated  with  bitu- 


PETROLEUM   IN   CUBA.  135 

minous  matter  to  a  most  surprising  extent.     Even  the  solid 
quartz,  the  serpentine  rocks,  and  the  veins  of  chalcedony, 
have  cells  and  cavities  filled  with  liquid  pitch  ;  and  the  air 
is  scented  with  it  when  these  rocks  are  broken  by  the  blows 
of  a  hammer.     In  this  respect  it  resembles  the  mineral 
pitch  found  filling  the  cavities  of  chalcedony  and  calc-spar 
in   Russia.*     Even  in  the  bay  of  Havana,  the  shore,  at 
low  water,  abounds  with  asphalt  and  bituminous  shale  in 
sufficient  quantity  for  the  paying  of  vessels  as  a  substitute 
for  tar.     It  is  stated  that,  in  buccaneering  times,  signals 
used  to  be  made  by  firing  masses  of  this  chapapote,  whose 
dense  columns  of  smoke  could  be  recognized  at  a  great 
distance,  and  served  as  signals  to  vessels  at  sea.     It  is  a 
matter  of  history  that  Havana  was  originally  named  by  the 
early  visitors  and  settlers,  Carine, — "for  there  we  careened 
our  ships,  and  we  pitched  them  with  the  natural  tar  which 
we  found  lying  in  abundance  upon  the  shores  of  this  beau- 
tiful bay."f     Petroleum  leaks  out  in  numberless  places,  in 
this  delightful  island,  and  it  is  astonishing  that  it  has  thus 
far  excited  no  particular  notice,  except  as  a  natural  phe- 
nomenon.    M.  Bousingault,  in  a  dissertation  on  the  bitu- 
mens of  France,  remarks  that  the  only  contradictory  fact 
opposed  to  his  conclusion  that  the  geological  position  of 
mineral  pitch  is  in  formations  referable  to  the  super-creta-/ 
ceous  group,  is  that  given  by  Alexander  Von  Humboldt, 
who,   in   his   travels   in    South   America,  saw   at   Punta 
d'Acaya,  on  the  coast  of  Caraccas,  petroleum  issuing  from 
mica  slate,  and  extending  far  out  into  the  sea.     To  these 
exceptions  might  be  added  many  more,  for  all  the  springs 
of  petroleum  and  of  mineral  pitch  in  the  West  Indian  Is- 
lands, and  in  South  America,  are  associated  with  metarnor- 
phic  rocks,  or  rocks  very  nearly  as  old  as  mica  slate.     But 
it  does  not  necessarily  follow  that  the  oil  itself  is  of  cotem- 
porary  age,  although  it  might  be  assumed  that  the  unctuous 

*  Allen's  Manual  of  Mineralogy,  t  Early  History  of  Cuba. 


136  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

touch  of  mica  and  felspar  may  proceed  from  contact  with 
such  substances.  But  coal  is  frequently  found  reposing 
on  granite,  as  near  Richmond,  in  Virginia,  while  anthra- 
cite is  found  among  metamorphic  rocks,  as  in  Sweden  and 
Rhode  Island  ;  yet  those  facts  do  not  prove  the  coal  to  be 
of  the  same  age  as  granite  or  of  mica  slate.  It  only  proves, 
in  short,  that  vegetation  existed  at  an  earlier  epoch  than 
the  geologists  have  hitherto  allowed — that  such  vegetation, 
or  oily  remains  of  vegetation,  lodged  on  and  in  the  strati- 
fied seams  of  primitive  rocks,  and  that  by  the  heat  or  subli- 
mation which  decomposed  it,  the  expansive  force  of  the  re- 
sultant gases  injected  the  oil  into  the  fissures  and  cracks 
of  the  overlying  and  adjacent  strata. 

Compact  mineral  pitch,  like  that  of  Cuba,  and  copious 
streams  of  petroleum,  also  occur  opposite  the  city  of  Mara- 
caybo,  in  Yenezuela,  and  on  the  borders  of  the  lake.  The 
petroleum  is  employed  here,  as  in  Havana,  for  paying  the 
sides  and  bottoms  of  vessels.  Toward  the  north-east 
margin  of  this  lake,  which  is  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
in  circumference,  is  a  remarkable  mine  of  asphaltum,  the 
bituminous  vapors  of  which  are  so  inflammable  that,  during 
the  night,  phosphoric  fires  are  continually  seen,  which^  in 
their  effect,  resemble  lightning.  They  are  more  frequent 
during  times  of  great  heat,  than  in  cool  weather,  and  go  by 
the  name  of  the  "lanterns  of  Maracaybo,"  because  they 
serve  both  for  lighthouse  and  compass  to  the  Spaniards 
and  Indians,  who,  without  the  assistance  of  either,  navigate 
the  lake.* 

The  bitumen  of  Murindo,  in  New  Grenada,  is  of  a 
brownish  black  color,  soft,  and  has  an  earthy  fracture.  It 
has  an  acrid  taste,  burns  freely,  with  a  smell  of  vanilla-,  and 
is  said  to  contain  a  large  quantity  of  benzoic  acid.  This 
arises,  apparently,  from  the  decomposition  of  trees  which 
contained  benzoin, •)•  their  decomposition  precipitating  the 

*  McCullough's  Geographical  Gazeteer.  |  Ures'  Dictionary  of  the  Arts. 


OIL   LAKE    IN    TEXAS.  137 

secretions  of  which  the  trees  were  composed.  Coal  is  found 
in  this  state  at  an  elevation  of  over  six  thousand  six  hun- 
dred feet — being  about  the  same  as  that  of  New  Mexico 
and  Upper  California.  The  coal  mines  are  worked  exten- 
sively by  English  and  American  companies. 

In  Mexico,  on  the  Salado  river,  near  Reveilla,  situated 
about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  above  Camargo, 
bituminous  coal  exists  in  quantity,  and  has  been  worked  by 
an  American  company.  A  coal  formation,  fifty  miles  in 
breadth,  very  likely  a  continuation  of  that  of  the  Rio 
Salado,  crosses  the  Rio  Grande  from  Texas  into  Mexico 
at  Loredo.  Coal  is  also  round  in  the  provinces  of  Oajuca, 
San  Louis  Potosi,  and  Yera  Cruz.  In  the  villages  of 
Sayultepec  and  Muloacan  are  fountains  of  petroleum, 
which  discharge  their  contents  over  a  wide  extent  of 
country.  The  'oil  called  "  Mexican  Mustang  Liniment," 
formerly  used  for  sprains  and  rheumatism,  is  derived  from 
these  and  similar  springs.  In  the  interior  of  Mexico,  ac- 
cording to  a  writer  in  Hunt's  Merchants'  Magazine,  are 
lakes  of  fresh  water,  where  chapapote  is  found  bubbling  up 
to  the  surface.  When  washed  upon  the  borders,  it  is 
gathered  and  used  as  a  varnish  and  for  the  bottoms  of 
canoes.  It  has  a  pungent  smell,  like  that  of  liquid  as- 
phalt, and  possesses  many  of  its  qualities. 

In  Texas,  about  one  hundred  miles  from  Houston,  there 
is  a  small  lake  of  petroleum  that  closely  resembles  the  pitch 
lake  of  Trinidad.  A  description  was  given  of  this  lake,  in 
1844,  in  a  report  to  the  War  Department.  It  is  said  to 
be  filled  with  bitumen  or  asphalt,  and  is  about  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  in  circumference.  During  the  cool  weather  of 
winter,  its  surface  is  hard,  and  is  capable  of  sustaining  a 
person.  From  November  to  March  it  is  generally  cov- 
ered with  water,  which  is  acid  to  the  taste,  from  which 
cause  it  has  been  commonly  called  the  Sour  Pond.  In 
the  summer  months  a  spring  occurs  near  the  centre  of  the 


138  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

lake,  from  which  an  oily  liquid  like  petroleum  continually 
boils  up.  This  liquid  gradually  hardens  on  exposure  to 
the  air,  and  forms  a  black,  pitchy  substance,  similar  to  that 
which  coats  the  sides  of  the  lake.  It  is  said  to  be  pre- 
cisely similar  to  the  bitumen  of  Trinidad,  and  promises  to 
be  of  great  value  for  the  production  of  gas.  It  burns 
with  a  very  clear  bright  light,  but  gives  out  a  pungent 
odor.  This  lake,  in  losing  its  volative  oils,  is  evidently 
hastening  into  the  incipient  stages  of  coal.  Coal  also 
abounds  in  various  quarters  of  Texas — the  main  formation 
having  been  already  described. 

On  the  falls  of  the  Wallamette  river,  in  Oregon,  fossil 
copal  or  resin  has  been  found,  as  also  on  the  shores  of  .the 
Pacific,  north  of  the  Columbia  river.  Beds  of  imperfect 
coal  were  also  discovered  by  General  Fremont,  in  his  ex- 
plorations in  1844,  near  the  cascades  of  the  Columbia  river. 
One  stratum  consisted  of  coal  and  forest  trees,  imbedded  in 
strata  of  alluvial  clay,  containing  the  remains  of  vegetables, 
the  leaves  of  which  indicated  that  they  were  of  the  dicoty- 
ledonous order.  A  very  significant  fact  is  mentioned  by 
Fremont,  viz.,  that  the  stems  of  the  ferns  were  not  miner- 
alized, but  merely  charred,  retaining  still  their  vegetable 
structure  and  substance  ;  and  in  this  condition,  also,  a  por- 
tion of  the  trees  remained.  But  some  portions  of  the  coal 
precisely  resemble  the  cannel-co*!  of  England ;  and,  with 
the  accompanying  fossils,  have  been  referred  to  the  tertiary 
period.  The  pure  coal,  it  is  plain  to  see,  resulted  from 
the  resinous  secretions  of  the  trees ;  but  as  the  ferns  con- 
tained none,  of  course  they  were  incapable  of  being  trans- 
formed into  lignite. 

Wood  and  brown  coal,  of  very  recent  origin,  has  been 
found  in  Kansas,  and  was  described  by  Lieutenant  Johnson 
in  1845.  It  occurs  on  the  escarpment  of  a  bluff  fifty  feet 
in  height,  in  which  are  various  seams  of  wood  and  lignite, 
intermingled  with  iron  pyrites,  and  on  the  surface  of  the 


COAL  AND  OIL  IN  OREGON.  139 

bluff  alum  crystalizes  in  considerable  quantities.  Perma- 
nent springs  flow  from  the  base,  and  taste  strongly  of  alum. 
Seams  of  wood  and  sandstone  alternate,  and  the  formation, 
which  is  described  as  of  the  postdiluvial  era,  has  been 
traced  for  several  miles,  at  an  elevation  of  one  hundred 
feet  above  the  Red  river.  On  the  False  Washita  river, 
towards  the  Wishetaw  mountains,  the  same  gentleman 
met  with  a  dark  sandstone  having  a  vertical  dip,  out  of 
which,  throughout  its  course,  a  great  quantity  of  bitumen 
has  flowed.  A  specimen  of  the  liquid  bitumen  has  the 
consistence  and  appearance  of  common  tar.  It  occurs  as 
a  mineral  oil  or  petroleum  on  the  surface  of  a  spring  near 
that  place.  This  spring  is  in  the  vicinity  of  granite,  upon 
which  the  oil  doubtless  rests. 

In  the  lead-bearing  magnesian  limestones  of  Wisconsin 
are  occasionally  observed  thin  seams,  or  lamina,  of  a  buff- 
colored  shale,  which,  on  being  placed  on  a  fire,  burn  for 
a  while  with  a  moderate  flame  ;  after  which  the  residue 
presents  a  preponderance  of  earthy  ashes.  This  asphaltic 
shale  is  calcareous,  and  frequently  fossiliferous.  It  has 
been,  in  the  absence  of  other  fuel,  economically  employed 
in  lime  burning,  as  it  contains  inflammable  matter  in  suf- 
ficient quantity  to  calcine  the  limestone  without  additional 
combustibles.* 

At  the  Albert  mines  of  New  Brunswick  there  is  a  bitu- 
minous substance  which,  for  many  years,  has  been  ranked 
alternately  as  coal  and  asphalt.  A  lawsuit  once  depended 
on  its  being  pronounced  one  or  the  other,  and  after  hearing 
the  opinions  of  several  of  the  most  distinguished  geologists 
and  mineralogists  of  England  and  the  United  States,  it  was 
finally  determined  by  the  court  to  be  coal.  It  is  a  beau- 
tiful mineral,  very  black  and  glossy,  burns  freely,  and 
makes  an  abundance  of  gas.  A  gentleman  long  connected 
with  the  mine  has  shown  us  specimens  of  a  peculiar  white 

*  E.  C.  Taylor's  Statistics  of  Coal. 


140  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

resinous  wax,  which  is  obtained  from  the  coal  by  distilla- 
tion, and  which  sufficiently  indicates  the  resinous  and  oily 
material  of  which  it  is  composed.  Oil  is  now  obtained 
from  it  in  large  quantities,  and  is  very  extensively  used, 
under  the  name  of  Portland  oil,  throughout  the  United 
States  and  British  Provinces.  The  earthy  shales  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  mine  are  also  impregnated  with  the  oil — 
thus  showing  its  former  liquid  condition,  and  its  previous 
existence  in  the  form  of  oil  springs. 

The  existence  of  petroleum,  or  rock  oil,  in  various  parts 
of  the  United  States,  was  known  to  the  Indians,  and  to 
many  of  the  early  explorers.  Father  Hennepin  speaks 
of  it  in  his  missionary  explorations  among  the  Indians  of 
the  North-west  lakes,  and  of  the  Upper  Mississippi,  over 
two  hundred  years  ago.  Its  presence  along  the  shores  of 
Oil  creek,  in  Yenaugo  county,  Pennsylvania,  gave  that 
stream  the  name  by  which  it  is  distinguished.  In  all  the 
borings  for  salt,  of  which  there  are  a  great  number  on  the 
Kiskemiuitas,  the  Conemaugh,  and  other  tributary  streams 
of  the  Alleghany  and  Ohio,  oil  was  the  usual  accompani- 
ment of  the  saline  waters.  Whenever  these  waters  oozed 
out,  along  the  slopes  of  the  mountains,  the  oil  would  col- 
lect as  a  thin  scum  on  the  surface  of  the  springs,  and 
swamps,  and  morasses  in  the  vicinity.  The  Indians  used 
to  "collect  it  and  use  it  as  a  medicine;  and  it  is  said  to 
possess  peculiar  healing  properties.  The  same  substance 
has  long  since  been  sold,  under  the  name  of  "  Rock  Oil," 
and  "  Seneca  Oil,"  as  a  quack  remedy  for  sprains  and  rheu- 
matism, as  also,  more  recently,  under  the  appellation  of 
"  Mexican  Mustang  Liniment."  The  quantity  of  oil  found 
in  many  of  the  salt  borings  was  so  great  that  the  wells 
were  abandoned  as  worthless — the  oil  giving  to  the  crys- 
tallized salt  an  odor,  and  an  unctuous  feel,  which  destroyed 
its  value  in  the  market.  There  are  many  of  these  old  bor- 
ings which  will  soon  be  found  valuable  for  oil,  now  that  the 


OIL   AND   SALT   SPRINGS.  141 

nature  of  the  substance  is  better  comprehended ;  while  it 
is  not  unlikely  that  both  oil  and  salt  may,  by  a  little  chem- 
ical skill,  be  rendered  available  to  the  use  and  requirements 
of  our  domestic  economy. 

At  one  of  the  old  salt  mines  on  the  Kanawha  river,  in 
Virginia,  when  the  borings  were  being  made,  a  reservoir 
of  gas  was  struck,  the  explosive  force  of  which  hurled  the 
augur  and  the  surface  machinery  into  the  air.  The  gas  was 
finally  tubed,  and  used  for  fuel  to  evaporate  the  salt  ob- 
tained from  adjacent  borings.  About  the  same  time,  if 
not  in  the  same  well,  a  vein  of  oil  was  struck,  which  issued 
up  in  great  force,  and  diffused  itself  over  the  surface  of  the 
ground,  and  thence  into  the  adjacent  river.  The  ignition 
of  the  gas  extended  itself  to  the  oil,  and  the  flames  fol- 
lowed the  latter  to  the  river,  setting  fire  to  the  boats  along 
the  shore,  and  illuminating  and  covering  the  river  in  a 
sheet  of  flame  for  many  miles  below.  The  extraordinary 
spectacle  of  a  river  on  fire  was  thus  presented,  for  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  the  world.  Since  the  traffic  in  oil 
began  on  the  Alleghany  river,  this  spectacle  has  frequently 
occurred,  both  on  that  river  and  Oil  creek.  The  destruc- 
tion of  property  which  such  accidents  effect  has  at  times 
been  immense.  The  burning  oil  spreads  over  the  water, 
and  attacks  every  thing  that  it  encounters — steamboats, 
flat-boats,  rafts  of  lumber,  and  all  the  inflammable  material 
of  the  shore,  share  the  infection  and  the  conflagration. 
The  oil  was  formerly  floated  down  the  river  en  masse  in 
wooden  scows  to  Pittsburg,  where  it  was  refined  and 
barrelled.  An  improvement  on  these  wooden  structures 
was  the  introduction  of  sheet-iron  compartments,  or  entire 
boats  of  sheet-iron,  which,  in  case  of  fire,  are  less  liable  to 
ignite.  Nevertheless  the  danger  is  still  imminent,  and 
measures  have  latterly  been  taken  to  prevent  its  transpor- 
tation from  the  wells  in  open  tanks,  unless  accompanied 
with  additional  safe-guards. 


142  THE   THIRD    DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

As  soon  as  the  true  nature  and  inherent  qualities  of  coal 
oil  were  ascertained,  in  the  United  States,  systematic 
efforts  were  instituted  to  obtain  it  by  distillation  from  coal. 
Several  establishments  for  distilling  and  refining  it  from 
cancel-coal  were  erected,  the  most  prominent  of  which  was 
from  the  coal  of  Breckenridge  county,  in  Kentucky,  and 
the  coals  of  Coal  river,  and  the  Kanawha  in  Virginia. 
The  oil  thus  obtained  from  coal  served  to  furnish  the  dis- 
tinguishing name  for  all  the  liquids  of  that  character  now 
in  the  market,  while  the  true  coal  oil  itself  has  disappeared. 
So  soon  as  it  was  ascertained  that  the  oil  obtained  from 
coal  was  identical,  or  nearly  so,  with  that  found  in  a  liquid 
state  in  saline  wells,  and  in  the  natural  springs  abounding 
along  the  margin  of  the  Alleghany  coal  measures,  borings 
were  made  into  the  earth  to  obtain  it.  These  borings,  at 
first,  were  confined  to  the  upper  layers  of  the  oil  strata, 
and  furnished  only  the  oil  which,  in  the  course  of  ages, 
had  been  ejected  by  springs,  and  subsequently  drained  into 
the  fissures  of  the  overlying  rocks.  While  the  true  oil- 
bearing  strata  occupy  a  position  at  and  near  those  of  the 
saline  rocks,  and  generally  occur  from  five  hundred  to  one 
thousand  feet  below  the  surface  of  the  ground,  the  oil  and 
saline  water,  aided  by  the  gases  which  are  always  asso- 
ciated with  them,  have  driven  them  upwards,  and  diffused 
them  not  merely  over  the  surface  of  the  earth,  but  into  all 
the  pores  and  fissures  of  the  statified  measures.  In  some 
instances  the  amount  of  oil  thus  held  in  the  cavities  of  the 
overlying  rocks,  and  in  the  seams  and  cracks  of  the  alter- 
nate lamina,  has  been  immense,  and  yielded  extraordinary 
and  unlooked-for  results.  Nevertheless,  the  deposit  was 
merely  superficial,  and  was  in  time  exhausted.  The  ex- 
haustion of  particular  wells  intimidated  others  from  similar 
enterprises,  while,  in  the  mean  time,  the  oil  itself  became  so 
abundant  as  to  overstock  the  market.  For  several  years 
X  ]  its  value  at  the  wells  was  less  than  one  dollar  per  barrel, 


COAL   OIL,  WHISKEY,  AND   BRANDY.  143 

and  scarcely  seemed  to  pay  the  cost  of  transportation. 
But  the  extraordinary  cheapness  and  abundance  of  the 
substance  stimulated  inquiry  into  its  character  and  quali- 
ties, and  uses  were  soon  created  for  it  which  suddenly 
enlarged  the  field  of  consumption,  and  greatly  enhanced  its 
value.  The  first  use  to  which  it  was  applied  was  for 
light ;  but  it  required  a  long  time  to  develop  its  qualities. 
The  usual  prejudice  with  which  every  new  and  untried  ex- 
periment is  assailed  by  the  public,  had  to  be  overcome  and 
lived  down.  Lamps  to  properly  burn  it  had  to  be  in- 
vented ;  dangers  which  attended  its  combustion  had  to  be 
corrected  ;  and  every  precaution  taken  in  its  preparation  to 
prove  its  value,  its  safety,  and  its  convenience.  When  the 
prejudice  of  the  people  was  thus  finally  conquered,  the  oil 
found  its  way  into  every  household  in  the  land,  and  the 
demand  for  it  rapidly  increased.  In  the  meanwhile,  certain 
qualities  of  the  oil  were  found  to  be  adapted  for  lubricating 
machinery,  either  alone  or  by  combination  with  other  oils. 
Its  cheapness,  compared  with  mineral  oils,  was  so  great, 
that  an  extraordinary  demand  was  created  for  this  purpose 
— the  railways  and  machinists  all  over  the  country  becom- 
ing the  principal  consumers.  At  the  same  time,  it  was 
found  that  turpentine  could  be  distilled  from  it — that,  in 
fact,  the  oil  contained  the  same  elements  as  were  formerly 
distilled  from  the  vegetable  resins  of  the  long-leaved  pines 
of  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia;  and  no  sooner  was  this 
fact  ascertained  than  it  found  its  way  into  many  new 
departments  of  art  and  manufactures,  and  became  an 
article  of  export  to  France,  England,  and  other  portions 
of  Europe.  Its  uses  are  now  almost  innumerable.  Con- 
taining the  bases  which  we  extract  from  vegetation — be- 
cause it  is  itself  derived  from  vegetation — it  would  be 
difficult  to  predict  what  it  is  'not  capable  of  being  applied 
to.  The  writer  of  these  pages,  in  a  lecture  which  he 
delivered  on  the  subject  some  five  years  ago,  and  which 
10 


144  THE   THIRD    DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

was  subsequently  published  in  a  pamphlet,  predicted  that 
it  would  ultimately  be  used  as  the  base  for  alcoholic   or 
spirituous  liquors.    "We  thus  find,"  if  I^may  be  permitted 
to  quote  from  the  pamphlet  which  is  now  before  me,  "  we 
thus  find  in  our  coals  and  oils  the  ingredients  that  we 
have  for  ages  been  accustomed  to  look  for  in  vegetation, 
in  animals,  and  in  fish.     We  can  obtain  from  them  the 
means  to  warm  our  houses,  the  gases  to  illuminate  them, 
the  oils  and  tallow  to  lubricate  machinery,  the  turpentine 
and  other  spirits  to  supply  the  demands  of  the  arts ;  and 
no   doubt  we   can,  and   will   distil   from  them  very  good 
brandy,  excellent  camphene-gin,  and  old,  oily,  unctuous, 
Monongahela  wkiskey  /"     It  is  perhaps  needless  to  assure 
the  reader  that,  when  making  this  prediction  nearly  six 
years  ago,  it  seemed  too  preposterous  and  absurd  to  give 
it  the  dignity  of  serious  language.     While  I  ventured  to 
throw  it  out  as  a  playful  suggestion,  I  nevertheless  had 
solid  grounds  to  believe  in  its  ultimate  realization.     A 
parallel  case  was  in  a  prediction  which  I  made,  after  the 
war  broke  out,  and  the  supplies  of  pitch,  resin,  tar,  and 
turpentine,  which  came  formerly  from  certain  of  the  South- 
ern States,  were  suddenly  cut  off  by  the  blockade,  would 
all  be  obtained  by  extracting  them  from  our  coals  and 
petroleums.     But,  singular  as  the  fact  may  appear,  brandy 
is  now  actually  distilled,  and  that,  too,  on  a  somewhat 
extensive  scale,  from  the  coal  oils  of  Pennsylvania  !     And 
why  not?     Do   they  not  furnish  the   alcoholic  base   of 
spirituous  liquors  ?     What,  then,  is  to  prevent  their  con- 
version into  liquors  of  any  desired  quality  ?     Whiskey  and 
brandy  obtain  oil  by  age — but  in  this  case  they  can  be 
made  to  obtain  age  by  oil ! 

But  perhaps  a  more  important  use  reserved  for  coal  oil 
in  the  future  is  its  introduction  as  a  fuel.  The  day  may, 
indeed,  be  not  far  distant,  when  it  will  be  economically 
used  for  heating  houses,  for  driving  locomotives  and  steam- 


COAL   OIL   FOR   FUEL.  1*5 

ships,  if  not  for  smelting  iron.  And  why  not  ?  Oil  con- 
stitutes the  inflammable  principle  of  coal,  as  well  as  of 
vegetation.  Coal  and  vegetation  are  alike  associated  with 
more  or  less  earthy  matter,  which  is  precipitated  as  a  slag 
or  ashes  during  combustion.  The  ashes  contribute  nothing 
to  the  heat  which  the  fuel  creates,  but  are  rather  an  incum- 
brance.  Why  not,  then,  employ  the  inflammable  material 
direct  ?  To  do  this  with  economic  advantage,  it  would 
seem  to  require  only  a  mode  of  combustion  adapted  to  the 
object ;  for  it  is  plain  that  a  fire-hearth  that  will  burn  coal 
and  wood  would  not  answer  to  burn  coal  oil  or  the  tarry 
bitumen  containing  coal  oil.  Experiments  recently  made 
in  United  States  war  steamers,  under  direction  of  the 
Navy  Department,  have  demonstrated  the  practicability  of 
using  these  oils  as  a  fuel ;  but  as  yet  there  appears  to  be 
no  econqmical  advantage,  owing  to  the  high  price  of  the 
article.  So  soon,  however,  as  we  learn  how  to  burn  it,  the 
cost  saved  in  transportation  over  coal,  and  the  proba- 
ble greater  convenience  of  using  it,  will  ultimately  intro- 
duce it  into  fields  of  usefulness  not  now  contemplated  in 
our  philosophy. 

The  almost  universal  use  to  which  the  illuminating  prop- 
erties of  petroleum  are  now  applied,  with  the  constantly 
increasing  demand  for  lubricating  running  machinery,  has 
suddenly  awakened  new  interest  in  the  subject,  and  led  to 
the  investment  of  capital,  under  the  stimulus  of  speculation, 
to  a  most  stupendous  extent.  While  I  write  this,  it  is 
the  all-absorbing  subject  of  conversation.  Nearly  every 
man  you  encounter  has  his  pockets  stuffed  with  oil  stocks, 
with  leases  of  oil  lands,  or  with  the  bonds  involving  the  fee 
simple.  All  the  machine  shops  are  busy  making  pumps 
and  boring  apparatus.  The  railway  cars  are  filled  with 
travellers,  hurrying  forth  and  back  from  the  land  overflow- 
ing with  oil  and  saline  water.  The  hotels  of  our  large 
cities  and  towns  buzz  with  oil  speculators,  like  a  hive 


146          THE  THIRD  DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

of  busy  bees.  The  newspapers  are  full  of  prospectuses  for 
oil  companies.  Prominent  merchants — dignified  judges 
and  senators — railway  presidents — learned  lawyers,  doc- 
tors, preachers — all  are  anointed  with  it,  and  shine  and 
glisten  with  it,  like  Moses  when  he  returned  from  the 
Mount.  Oil  has  burst  forth  as  a  great  speculative  flame, 
and  it  now  rules  the  "  court,  the  camp,  and  the  field." 

And  why  is  this  ?  Because  we  have  found  out  that  it  is 
no  temporary  or  ephemeral  thing.  When  the  first  super- 
ficial borings  were  made,  and  some  of  the  wells  failed, 
although  a  certain  few  knew  better,  the  great  mass  of  our 
people  thought  the  quantity  was  exhausted,  or  at  least  ex- 
haustible. Many  believed,  and  still  believe,  that  it  is 
eliminated  from  the  veins  of  coal — that  it  is  secreted  and 
confined  to  the  caverns  of  the  upper  rocks  in  close  prox- 
imity to  the  coal,  and  that  permanent  supplies  cannot  be 
looked  for. 

This  theory  has  been  partially  dispelled  by  the  deeper 
borings  which  have  been  made  during  the  last  few  years. 
It  is  now  well  ascertained  that  there  are  two,  and  perhaps 
more,  distinct  seams  of  the  oil,  running  along  the  western 
slope  of  the  Alleghany,  with  all  the  regularity  of  the  upper 
coal  veins.  But  in  boring,  the  same  contingencies  of  suc- 
cess prevail  as  in  mining  coal.  The  veins  of  oil,  like  those 
of  coal,  have  their  faults.  They  abound  in  rocky,  and 
slaty,  and  aluminous  barriers,  which  cut  off  and  intercept 
the  liquid  seam.  If  the  augur  happens  to  pass  through 
one  of  these,  little  or  no  oil  can  be  obtained.  If  the  same 
augur,  however,  should  go  down  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  in 
either  direction  from  the  first  well,  it  would  avoid  the  fault, 
and  tap  the  oil.  This  is  our  daily  experience  in  mines, 
and  especially  in  coal  mines ;  and  this  fact  explains  the 
reason,  otherwise  unaccountable,  that  of  two  wells  of  equal  or 
nearly  equal  depth,  one  will  obtain  more  oil  than  the  other, 
or  one  will  obtain  oil  in  quantity,  while  the  other  yields 


FAULTS  IN   OIL   VEINS.  147 

none  at  all.  This  singular  fact  has  happened  time  and 
again,  and  is  likely  to  happen  so  long  as  we  are  ignorant 
of  the  measures  beneath. 

But  the  deep  borings  of  the  salt  wells  of  the  Ohio,  and 
the  numerous  streams  emptying  into  «t,  prove  that  the 
strata  of  oil  extends  all  along  the  slope  of  the  Alleghanies, 
and  extend,  in  many  places,  far  beneath  the  overlying 
group  of  rocks  which  cover  the  adjacent  States  of  New 
York,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Kentucky,  Illinois,  Missouri,  Kansas, 
Texas,  and  many  others.  Oil  exists  in  more  or  less  abun- 
dance in  all  these  States ;  it  only  requires  deeper  shafts  to 
obtain  it. 

To  establish  this  fact,  we  have  now  only  to  recur  to  a 
consideration  of  the  circumstances  under  which  it  was 
formed.  The  reader  will  bear  in  mind  that  the  chain  of 
mountains  which  constitutes  the  Alleghany,  is  nearly  one 
thousand  miles  long  and  more  than  one  hundred  miles  wide. 
During  the  early  Devonian  era,  this  entire  mountain  system 
was  submerged — it  consisted  of  several  distinct  basins  or 
lakes,  not  particularly  dissimilar  to  those  of  Huron,  Erie, 
or  Superior.  I  have  already  described  the  leading  charac- 
teristics of  these  basins  or  estuacies  of  the  sea,  and  wish 
merely  to  recall  ray  observations  here,  so  as  to  enable  the 
reader  to  understand  the  modus  operandi  of  the  formation 
of  the  beds  of  oil.  The  adjacent  prairies  I  have  pre- 
viously described  as  resembling  the  St.  Clair  flats — flats 
that  were  impenetrable  with  rank  and  luxuriant  vegetation. 
The  resinous  secretions  of  the  coal  plants  were  strewn  into 
the  earth,  and  drained  into  these  lakes,  which,  up  to  this 
time,  were  filled  with  the  saline  waters,  and  the  concomi- 
tant infusoria  and  mollusca  of  the  sea.  The  petroleum 
collected  into  these  lakes,  formed  a  thick  tarry  crust  on 
the  surface,  and  sank  down  to  the  bottom  beneath  an  in- 
undation or  overflow  of  sedimentary  water.  The  over- 
flows were  sudden,  and  the  vegetable  oils  were  buried  and 


148          THE  THIRD  PAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

confined  amid  the  rubbish  of  the  forests  and  the  sand  and 
mud  which  they  held  in  suspension.  When  the  waters 
drained  off,  another  crop  of  vegetation  furnished  supplies 
for  another  stratum  of  liquid  bitumen,  and  again  it  was  sub- 
merged, and  a  strata  of  sand  and  mud  and  debris  deposited 
over  it.  Now  these  rocks  were  all  porous ;  but  over 
them,  after  the  waters  became  more  clear,  was  deposited 
a  thick  seam  of  plastic  clay,  having  in  it  a  large  content 
of  kaolin,  or  decomposed  felspar.  This  seam  of  clay  is 
from  ten  to  forty  feet  thick,  and  is  so  compact  that  neither 
water  nor  oil  can  penetrate  it.  It  overlies  the  oil ;  it 
shuts  it  down  ;  it  imprisons  it  in  the  earth  ;  it  can  only 
escape  along  the  margins  of  the  clay  seam,  or  where  it  has 
been  fractured  or  worn  away.  The  decomposition  of  the 
oil  by  a  sublimation  which  is  always  going  on  in  the 
bowels  of  the  earth,  forces  the  oil  and  water  to  seek 
crevices  for  escape.  They  are  accordingly  driven  toward 
the  central  axis  of  the  Alleghany,  where  they  have  again 
been  driven  into  the  upper  measures,  which  have  a  gradual 
receding  pitch  from  the  centre.  After  the  oil  had  been 
thus  imprisoned,  the  process  of  accumulating  alternate 
layers  of  sandstone,  slate,  and  mud,  and  the  vegetable 
material  of  the  forests,  continued  for  long  intervals,  in  the 
manner  previously  described — but  with  this  important  dif- 
ference :  as  the  earth  and  the  vegetation  attained  a  more 
reciprocal  action,  or  equilibrium  to  each  other,  the  vege- 
table material  contained  less  liquid  oil,  and  parted  with 
more  of  its  volatile  gases  while  exposed  to  the  atmosphere 
on  the  surface  of  the  lake.  We  notice  that  on  the  pitch 
lake  of  Trinidad,  as  also  on  that  of  Texas,  the  oil  is  evapo- 
rated by  long  exposure,  although  oil  springs  are  constantly 
emptying  into  these  lakes.  Now  the  veins  which  made 
the  coal  were  exposed  to  exactly  similar  influence.  There 
was  not  so  much  evaporation,  because  the  atmosphere  was 
not  then  adapted  to  its  absorption ;  but  there  wa?  abun- 


COAL   OIL   VEGETATION.  .  149 

dant  time  to  allow  the  mass  to  solidify,  which  was  not  the 
case  with  the  previous  veins  of  oil.  They  were  imprisoned 
suddenly,  while  the  veins  of  coal  were  accumulated  slowly. 
There  was  also  a  very  material  difference  in  the  vegetation 
itself.  The  first  was  richer  in  liquid  oils— the  latter  fur- 
nished secretions  more  resinous  in  their  character,  and 
better  adapted  to  coalesce  and  solidify  under  the  pressure 
of  sedimentary  waters.  That  there  was  a  very  consider- 
able variation  or  alternation  in  the  character  of  the  vegeta- 
tion is  very  certain,  and  the  variation  was  governed  then, 
as  it  is  now,  by  a  positive  law  of  nature.  We  know  that 
a  law  of  alternation  of  crops  exists  in  our  forests  now — 
that  as  pine  trees  disappear,  a  crop  of  oaks,  or  chestnuts, 
or  hickories,  succeeds,  and  vice  versa.  This  fact  has  not 
escaped  the  experience  and  observation  of  man,  and  we 
have  a  right  to  assume  that  the  law  which  exists  now  was 
in  full  force  then.  It  is  probable,  therefore,  that  if  a  crop 
of  calamites'  prevailed  for  a  certain  interval,  a  crop  of 
Lepidodendria  or  Sigellaria  succeeded,,  and  that  such  crops 
varied  in  their  relative  contents  of  oil,  as  the  existing  pine 
trees  vary  in  their  relative  richness  in  resinous  secretions — 
the  yellow  pine  exceeding  the  white  pine,  and  the  white 
pine  in  turn  exceeding  that  of  the*  spruce,  or  the  hemlock, 
but  all  alike  belonging  to  the  great  family  of  coniferous 
trees.  During  the  coal  period  several  hundred  of  such 
trees  flourished — perhaps  in  all  not  less  than  four  or  five 
hundred  distinct  species.  I  mentioned  before  that  I  had 
collected  some  seven  hundred  and  fifty  fossil  specimens  of 
this  vegetation,  all  of  which  are  now  in  the  Academy  of 
Natural  Sciences,  in  Philadelphia,  where  they  may  be  seen, 
under  the  regulations  of  that  institution,  by  those  carious 
to  learn  something  of  the  paleontology  of  the  coal  measures. 
The  phenomena  attending  the  upheaval  of  the  Alleghany 
mountains  have  already  been  discussed.  It  will  suffice 
here  to  say,  that  when  the  coal  and  coal  oil  basins  arose, 


150  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

the  measures  on  the  western  slope  were  comparatively  un- 
disturbed. They  became  indurated — but  the  content  of 
oil  and  coal  was  not  transformed  into  anthracite,  as  on  the 
eastern  slope,  where  the  greatest  amount  of  heat  prevailed. 
The  eastern  slope  was  traversed  by  trap  dykes  and  volcanic 
action,  metamorphosing  the  rock,  and  heaving  up  ranges 
of  rocks  belonging  to  the  previous  Silurian  era.  But  to 
the  west,  the  upheaval  was  gentle,  and  was  attended  with 
but  few  instances  of  contortion.  The  coal  oil  measures 
were  thus  brought  within  a  few  hundred  feet  of  the  surface, 
with  the  coal  measures  reposing  still  nearer  the  surface, 
but  with  a  gradual  increasing  dip  towards  the  north, 
where,  after  forming  a  basin,  they  again  arise,  allowing  the 
gases  to  escape  in  Western  Canada,  and  in  Western  New 
York  and  Ohio ;  and  thus  forming  a  true  but  extensive 
anti-clinal  axis  is  of  both  coal  oil  and  coal. 

But  that  there  was  an  alternation  of  the  resinous  vegeta- 
tion, is  established  in  the  fact  of  the  difference  in  the  veins 
of  coal  oil  and  the  coal  themselves.  We  know  that  some 
veins  of  coal  are  richer  in  oils  than  other  veins  in  the  same 
basins.  Nor  was  this  alternation  in  the  vegetation  uni- 
versal at  any  one  time.  The  variation  appears  to  have 
been  local,  as  indeed  it  Is  now.  We  do  not  find  all  our 
forests  abounding  in  any  one  particular  species  of  tree  at 
the  same  time.  Different  geographical  sections  furnish 
different  shades  of  vegetation.  And  so  it  was  during 
the  coal  and  coal  oil  period — and  hence  the  local  differ- 
ences in  the  quality  of  the  oils.  Now,  on  the  Kanawha, 
in  Virginia,  on  the  Big  Sandy,  in  Kentucky,  and  generally 
on  the  head  waters  of  the  Monongahela,  we  find  richer  and 
more  fatty  oils  than  we  find  on  the  Alleghany,  the  Clarion, 
or  on  Oil  creek.  And  why  is  this?  Because  the  coals, 
themselves,  are  richer  in  oils,  and  because  a  species  of 
vegetation  flourished  in  these  points,  which  secreted  more 


COAL   OIL   VEGETATION.  151 

oils  than  these  of  Penns}Tlvania.  But  it  is  nevertheless 
notorious,  that  between  the  layers  of  fat,  bituminous  coals, 
which  exist  in  those  regions  are  other  veins  which  are 
comparatively  worthless — veins  not  only  full  of  bituminous 
shales,  and  iron  pyrites,  but  extremely  lean  in  the  car- 
buretted  hydrogen,  which  constitutes  the  true  value  of 
mineral  coal.  But  while  we  have  these  lean  veins,  we 
have  also  others  that  surpass  even  the  ordinary  bituminous 
veins  in  richness  of  oils — veins  that,  to  all  intents  and  pur- 
poses, consist  entirely  of  solidified  coal  oil  or  petroleum. 
Such  a  vein,  eight  feet  thick,  is  found  on  the  Kanawha. 
If  you  take  a  lump,  and  expose  it  to  boiling  water,  it  will 
dissolve  into  a  scum,  and  precipitate  the  oil,  of  which  it  is 
in  great  part  composed  ;  or,  if  you  throw  it  on  a  red  hot 
stove,  the  gas  and  oil  will  be  immediately  evolved.  It  will 
thus  be  perceived  that  there  is  the  same  difference  between 
these  coals  and  oils,  in  their  constituent  elements,  that 
there  is  between  yellow  pine  and  white  pine  wood — be- 
tween white  pine  and  chestnut  or  hickory.  They  include 
coals  that  are  lean  and  barely  inflammable,  and  coals  that 
are  fatty,  oily,  and  full  of  the  gases  by  which  we  light  our 
houses. 

Conceding,  then,  that  the  difference  in  the  qualities  of 
the  oil  and  coal  proceeds  from  the  difference  in  the  vegeta- 
tion from  which  they  are  derived,  we  find  a  positive  chem- 
ical identity  in  their  origin.  And  while  there  is  an  intimate 
relation  between  the  coals  and  the  various  resinous  oils, 
they  occur,  as  we  have  already  shown,  in  nearly  every 
quarter  of  the  globe,  in  one  form  or  another.  They  sel- 
dom are  in  direct  proximity  to  anthracite,  and  this  for 
reasons  which  are  sufficiently  manifest.  The  great  family 
of  mineral  combustibles  comprehends  naphtha,  petroleum, 
elastic  bitumen,  mitral  caoutchouc,  compact  bitumen,  as- 
phaltum,  mineral  pitch,  bituminous  candidum,  mineral  oil, 


152  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

and  the  Seneca  oil  of  New  York — many  of  which,  in 
liquid  form,  are  now  obtained  in  enormous  abundance  in 
Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  Ohio,  and  Kentucky,  from  the 
lower  coal  measures  along  the  western  slope  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies.  There  are,  at  this  time,  perhaps  not  less  than 
three  hundred  wells  in  operation,  and  more  than  that  num- 
ber under  way.  If  we  can  suppose  five  hundred  to  be 
productive  during  the  present  year,  each  averaging  twenty 
barrels  per  day,  (which  is  extremely  moderate),  the  gross 
aggregate  would  be  about  3,640,000  barrels  per  year, 
which,  at  twenty  dollars  per  barrel,  on  the  average,  would 
yield  $72,800,000  in  money.  We  conceive  this  to  be  a 
really  low  estimate.  We  believe  the  actual  result  will  far 
exceed  it ;  but  even  if  it  should  only  approximate  this 
result,  it  will  be  seen  that  it  exceeds  the  entire  value  .of 
the  wheat  crop  of  the  several  States  mentioned — that  it 
exceeds  the  entire  coal  and  iron  product;  and  that,  as  an 
article  of  export,  it  surpasses  all  our  other  staples  com- 
bined— including  cotton  and  tobacco.  It  might  be  worth 
while  to  inquire,  however,  how  long  we  will  be  called  on 
to  furnish  supplies  for  foreign  nations,  when  we  know  that 
the  same  oil  exists  in  abundance  in  China,  the  East  Indies, 
in  Sweden,  in  Norway,  in  Russia,  in  South  America,  Cali- 
fornia, and  Mexico,  and  in  nearly  all  the  West  India 
Islands.  There  is  a  time,  but  how  far  distant  every  one 
may  estimate  for  himself,  when  coal  oil  will  be  everywhere 
produced  and  consumed,  as  coal  now  is,  and  its  value  as 
an  article  of  commercial  traffic  will  be  restricted.  Any 
one  may  have  a  well  of  his  own,  as  the  farmers  in  the 
West  now  have  coal  mines  for  their  own  domestic  use. 
The  value,  as  a  commercial  staple,  will  be  regulated  by 
the  cost  of  transportation  and  the  cost  of  barrelling  and 
refining  it.  „ 

While  we  have  a  family  of  solidified  and  liquid  com- 


OIL   SPRINGS   OF   THE   ALLEGHANIES.  153 

bustibles,  it  is  easy  to  pass  from  their  varieties,  by  gentle 
gradations,  to  a  corresponding  assemblage  of  the  true 
coals — as  the  coal-asphalt  of  New  Brunswick,  the  cannel- 
coal  of  Kanawha  and  Breckenridge,  the  fat  or  oily  bitu- 
minous coal  of  the  Monongahela,  the  tar  coal  of  North 
Carolina  and  Virginia,  the  semi-anthracite  coal  of  Broad 
Top  and  Cumberland,  the  free-burning  anthracite  of  Tre- 
vorton  and  Lyken's  Valley,  the  medium  anthracite  of 
Pottsville,  the  more  compact  anthracite  of  Tamaqua,  and 
the  hard,  stony  anthracite  of  the  Lehigh.  These  all  be- 
long to  one  great  family  of  combustibles,  and,  of  course, 
have  a  common  vegetable  origin.  The  anthracites  may  be 
regarded  as  the  patriarchs — the  venerable  heads  of  the 
family  group ;  while  the  bituminous  stand  intermediate 
between  them  and  the  more  immature  or  youthful  offspring 
of  the  ancient  forests. 

But  the  question  now  suggests  itself  as  to  the  physical 
circumstances — local,  chemical,  and  mechanical — under 
which  these  vegetable  resins  were  converted  into  so  many 
different  mineral  substances.  It  appears  from  the  investi- 
gations of  the  celebrated  Baron  von  Liebeg,  and  other 
eminent  chemists,  that  wood,  and  every  kind  of  vegetable 
matter,  when  buried  in  the  earth,  exposed  to  moisture, 
and  partially  or  entirely  excluded  from  the  air,  decom- 
poses slowly,  and  evolves  carbonic  acid  gas,  thus  parting 
with  a  portion  of  its  original  oxygen.  By  this  means,  it 
becomes  gradually  converted  into  lignite  or  wood-coal, 
which  contains  a  larger  proportion  of  hydrogen  than  wood 
docs.  A  continuance  of  decomposition  changes  this 
lignite  into  common  or  bituminous  coal,  chiefly  by  the  dis- 
charge of  carburettcd  hydrogen,  or  the  gas  by  which  we 
illuminate  our  streets  and  houses.  According  to  Bischoff, 
the  inflammable  gases  which  are  always  escaping  from 
mineral  coal,  and  are  so  often  the  cause  of  fatal  accidents 
in  mines,  invariably  contain  carbonic  acid,  carburetted  hy- 


154  THE  THIRD  DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

drogen,  nitrogen,  and  olefiant  gas.  The  disengagement  of 
all  these,  it  has  been  inferred,  gradually  transforms  bitu- 
minous into  coke  or  anthracite  coal. 

The  accuracy  of  the  chemical  changes  here  enumerated 
has  never  been  questioned ;  they  are  universally  recog- 
nized as  strictly  true.  It  was,  indeed,  owing  to  the  de- 
composition of  the  wood,  and  the  fermentation  or  heat 
thereby  produced,  under  circumstances  of  moisture  and 
pressure,  that  the  resinous  properties  of  the  coal  forests 
were  eliminated.  Yet  the  authority  of  Liebeg  and  other 
distinguished  chemists,  is  always  referred  to,  as  in  the 
foregoing  paragraph,  to  prove  the  conversion  of  the  solid 
wood  of  trees  into  coal.  Even  Sir  Charles  Lyell,  in  his 
"Elements  of  Geology,"  leads  us  to  such  an  inference. 
It  strikes  me  that  chemistry  can  sanction  no  such  conclu- 
sion ;  and  the  paragraph  above,  if  it  means  any  thing, 
means  quite  the  reverse  of  what  Mr.  Lyell  and  his  nu- 
merous professional  satellites  have  inferred.  Liebeg  says 
that  the  "  partial  decomposition  of  the  wood,  exposed  to 
moisture  and  fermentation,  converts  it  into  wood-coal  or 
lignite."  Very  well.  What,  then,  is  wood-coal  or  lig- 
nite ?  It  is  wood  in  the  state  of  decomposition,  expelling 
or  precipitating  its  resinous  and  oily  juices  into  the  form 
of  bitumen.  It  is  wood  undergoing  combustion,  or  parting 
with  its  pyroligneous  oils.  Combustion  is  of  various 
kinds  and  degrees.  When  you  throw  a  billet  of  wood  on 
the  fire,  its  resinous  juices,  in  the  form  of  gas,  arc  con- 
sumed, while  the  woody  structure  is  converted  into  char- 
coal. A  continuance  of  combustion,  reduces  the  charcoal 
to  ashes,  and  the  ashes  show  that  the  woody  fibre  was 
composed  of  earth;  viz. ,  iron,  lime,  silex,  clay,  magnesia, 
etc.  Another  kind  of  combustion  is  that  which  we  see  in 
the  open  air.  It  is  slow,  and  occurs  without  any  visible 
heat,  except  the  insensible  oxygen  of  the  atmosphere.  A 


ORIGIN   OF   COAL   EXPLAINED.  155 

fallen  tree  will  slowly  decompose — its  gases  are  volatilized 
and  mingle  with  the  air,  while  the  woody  fibre  crumbles 
away,  and  mingles  with  the  earth — its  ashes  or  mould 
being  precisely  similar  to  the  ashes  of  wood  exposed  to  a 
flame.  Now,  combustion  is  always  the  same  in  its  ulti- 
mate results ;  when  it  occurs  under  the  ground,  it  is  by 
fermentation,  and  the  gases,  being  unable  to  escape,  form 
compounds,  which  compounds  are  coal;  and  this  coal 
increases  in  purity  with  the  extinction  of  the  woody  fibre. 
In  lignite,  this  woody  fibre  still  exists ;  but  in  pure  coal 
it  does  not ; — hence  the  ashes  of  lignite  contain  more  than 
four  times  the  quantity  of  earthy  material  as  the  ashes  of 
pure  coal.  But  in  consequence  of  its  partial  combustion, 
as  Liebeg  observes,  lignite  contains  more  hydrogen  than 
the  original  wood.  The  reason  is,  that  the  juices  in 
forming  into  solids,  are  first  decomposed,  and  thus  part 
with  their  water.  The  lignite  mined  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  Giessen,  in  Germany  (the  very  spot  from  which 
the  great  chemist  wrote  his  Letters)  contains  from  forty- 
five  to  fifty  per  cent,  of  hydrogen  as  it  comes  from  the 
bowels  of  the  earth.  The  heat  generated  in  the  mine  by 
the  decomposition  of  the  lignite,  when  exposed  to  the  air, 
is  so  intense  that  the  miners  are  compelled  to  disrobe  when 
they  enter  their  breasts.  It  is  this  decomposition  (or 
combustion)  that  discharges  the  carburetted  hydrogen  gas 
to  which  the  Professor  alludes,  and  which  finally  termi- 
nates in  the  extinction  of  the  wood — leaving  behind  pure 
bitumous  coal,  derived  from  the  previously  eliminated 
resins. 

The  fermentation  produced  in  the  vegetable  detritus  of 
the  forests  was  sometimes  so  great  and  intense,  that  it 
amounted  to  absolute  combustion,  but  combustion  without 
flame,  as  in  the  case  of  charcoal  pits.  This  is  proved 
from  the  abundance  of  mineral  charcoal  found  in  the  coal 
measures.  This  charcoal,  however,  is  not  always  charred 


i56  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

wood,  but  not  unfrequently  is  charred  resin,  or  bituminous 
coke.  Now,  to  have  produced  such  coke,  the  escape  of 
illuminating  gas  was  essential,  and  we  can  suppose  that 
the  atmosphere  of  the  coal  period  was  at  times  suffused 
with  these  gases,  which,  in  consequence  of  its  humidity 
and  density,  would  precipitate  them  upon  the  earth  in  the 
form  of  smoky  soot  or  lamp-black.  The  city  of  Pittsburg 
affords  an  idea  how  bituminous  smoke  can  thus  evolve 
lamp-black.  When  the  atmosphere  is  heavy,  that  city  is 
involved  in  the  sulphurous  fumes,  dense  vapors,  and  float- 
ing soot  of  its  manufacturing  establishments,  and  the 
houses  are  blackened  with  it,  and  the  streets  incrusted 
with  it.  During  the  coal  period,  the  dense  black  smoke, 
sometimes  overspreading  the  forests,  would  precipitate 
soot  in  the  form  of  black  carbonaceous  snow,  and  this, 
mingling  with  the  waters  and  liquid  oils,  would  be  borne 
off  to  the  coal  lakes  as  a  black,  viscous,  and  tarry  ink. 
The  entire  lakes  would,  in  time,  be  resolved  into  lakes  of 
oleaginous  tar ;  which  would  finally  settle  down,  like  the 
pitch  of  Trinidad,  into  a  solid  and  compact  body. 

But,  it  may  be  remarked,  the  coal,  after  all,  is  derived 
from  the  vegetation,  And  so,  indeed,  it  is.  But  the 
geologists  would  have  us  infer  that  it  was  derived  directly 
from  the  wood,  without  the  interposition  of  resin  or  bitu- 
men ;  that,  in  fact,  the  wood  was  not  decomposed,  but 
only  changed  from  one  condition  to  another.  It  is  against 
this  empirical  theory  that  I  object,  for  there  is  no  sanction 
for  it  in  all  the  laws  of  chemistry.  It  is  a  matter  of  as- 
tonishment to  me  that  the  decomposition  of  the  wood,  and 
its  final  expulsion  in  carburetted  hydrogen  (or,  rather,  its 
new  chemical  combination,  for  I  do  not  think  it  was  ex- 
pelled, except  under  the  circumstances  already  men- 
tioned), should  so  long  have  escaped  observation  in 
treating  the  chemical  phenomena  of  the  coal.  For  this 
reason,  among  several  others,  woody  fibre  cannot  be  de- 


ORIGIN    OF   COAL   EXPLAINED.  157 

tected  in  the  coal — the  inicroseopists  to  the  contrary  not- 
withstanding. And  had  the  fact  been  investigated  on 
independent  premises, — had  Buckland,  Brongniart,  Bow- 
man, Lyell,  Hitchcock,  Kogers,  or  any  one  of  the  host  of 
geologists  who  have  remarked  and  freely  speculated  upon 
the  absence  of  such  trees  in  the  solid  coal,  investigated  for 
themselves,  instead  of  adopting  the  ill-digested  surmises 
of  each  other,  there  never  could  have  been  any  disagree- 
ment or  difficulty  in  reconciling  all  the  phenomena  of  its 
origin  and  deposition.  It  was  mainly  through  their  mis- 
apprehension,  extensively  promulgated  in  their  writings, 
that  the  idea  of  alternate  elevation  and  depression  of  the 
land,  of  earthquakes  and  floods,  periodical  submergence 
of  the  forests,  and  their  direct  conversion  into  bituminous, 
and  thence  by  other  earthquakes,  into  anthracite  coal,  has 
been  so  long  and  so  generally  entertained ;  and  this,  too, 
in  the  face  of  the  fact  (which  they  never  have  been  able 
to  explain),  that,  wherever  trees,  and  limbs,  or  leaves 
were  found  in  the  solid  coal,  they  were  invariably  con- 
verted into  non-combustible  earths.  There  is,  unfortu- 
nately, too  great  a  willingness,  among  the  professors  of 
the  Natural  Sciences,  for  one  writer  to  tacitly  adopt  or 
quote  or  give  currency  to  the  visions  of  another.  The 
books  are  full  of  theories  which  have  to  be  changed  or 
modified  with  every  progressive  step  ;  and  these  theories 
are  transferred  from  one  book  to  another,  with  occasional 
emendations  and  additions.  One-half  of  the  geologists 
whose  names  are  mentioned  with  respect,  and  who  receive 
credit  for  scientific  acumen,  are  really  but  mere  tinkers 
and  peddlers  in  the  small  facts  which  the  experience  of 
practical  miners  and  workers  in  the  rocks  has  disclosed. 
And  such,  too,  rank  with  the  great  men  of  the  earth — be- 
neath whose  severe  and  awful  frown,  even  our  Bible  must 
be  read  with  stealth,  and  its  sacred  truths  believed  in  with 
mental  reservations  or  overshadowing  clouds  of  dark  sus- 


158  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

picion.  The  world,  indeed,  is  governed  too  much  by  its 
so-called  "great  men."  Popular  opinion  is  too  often 
based  upon  the  flimsy  shams  of  science ;  professional 
reputation  is  too  often  created  by  the  "  dummies"  of  Bob 
Sawyers  and  Ben  Aliens  (late  Nockemorfs)  !  When 
plain,  sober,  practical  men  once  obtain  a  hearing  in  the 
earth,  it  will  grow  wiser  and  better,  and  the  number  of 
empirical  quacks  will  be  diminished. 

Lignite  occurs  in  a  formation  more  recent  than  that  of 
the  coal  measures,  and,  on  strict  geological  principles, 
ought  not  to  be  considered  in  this  place.  I  may  remark, 
however,  that  it  generally  occurs  in  small  and  shallow 
basins — little  lakes,  into  which  were  deposited  the  vege- 
table resins  of  Tertiary  forests,  and  the  solid  trunks  and 
branches  of  trees.  The  liquid  oils  penetrated  the  pores 
of  the  wood  as  they  yielded  to  decomposition ;  and  in 
time  the  whole  mass  of  vegetable  material,  by  overlying 
pressure,  settled  down  into  a  compact  deposit  of  impure 
bitumen.  The  lignite  has  therefore  some  resemblance  to 
coal.  When  relieved  of  its  large  content  of  water  (which 
sometimes  amounts  to  one-half  its  weight),  seventy 
pounds  evolve  as  much  heat  as  fifty  pounds  of  anthracite. 
The  ashes  it  leaves  behind  vary  from  twelve  to  seventeen 
per  cent.,  while  that  of  pure  anthracite  rarely  exceeds 
four  per  cent.  These  ashes  are  composed  of  quartz,  clay, 
iron,  lime,  and  mere  traces  of  some  other  primary  sub- 
stances. Now,  the  ashes  of  wood  consist  almost  entirely 
of  potash,  and  hence  we  are  entitled  to  infer  that,  with  the 
increase  of  bitumen,  the  wood  disappears,  and  that,  even 
in  lignite,  such  is  the  preponderance  of  the  bituminous 
principle,  that  very  little  wood,  properly  so-called,  is  left 
behind.  And  as  showing  how  far  the  decomposition  of 
the  wood  has  proceeded,  it  may  be  observed  that  the 
ashes  of  the  lignite  contain  exactly  the  same  ingredients 
as  the  surrounding  shales  and  slates  that  overlay  the  coal 


ORIGIN   OF   COAL   EXPLAINED.  ;          159 

beds.  The  same  remark  applies  to  all  coals ;  and  I  may 
here  mention  again,  that  the  remains  of  the  ancient  coal 
forests — that  is,  the  decomposed  trunks  of  trees,  grasses, 
and  weeds — constitute  the  rich  vegetable  mould  of  the 
western  prairies.  The  black  soil,  often  from  six  to  ten 
feet  deep,  which  comprises  the  extraordinary  fertility  of 
those  regions,  is  the  result  of  the  dissolution  of  the  stu- 
pendous and  wide-spread  forests  of  the  coal  era.  The 
indurated  shales  that  accompany  the  veins  of  coal  are 
somewhat  similar ;  but  they  have  passed  through  different 
chemical  changes,  and  their  original  character  has  been 
considerably  modified.  But  wherever  a  fossil  tree  or 
branch  is  found,  the  solid  trunk — the  woody  tissue  of  the 
interior — is  invariably  represented  by  such  shale,  while 
the  outside  is  as  uniformly  surrounded  by  a  thin  coating 
of  coal.  These  facts  are  curious,  but  they  are  plain  and 
overwhelming :  they  are  not  isolated  cases,  selected  to 
establish  an  empirical  law ;  but  they  are  universal,  unde- 
viating,  aad  irresistible.  When  a  tree  decomposes  in  the 
forest,  we  see  it  gradually  crumble  into  dust ;  and  in  time, 
no  one  could  separate  it  from  the  earth  of  which  it  forms 
a  part.  It  was  so  with  the  coal  vegetation,  with  this 
difference  :  that  before  entire  decomposition  ensued,  pres- 
sure ano  fermentation  occurred,  the  result  of  which  was 
that  tho  resinous  juices  of  the  tree  were  squeezed  out,  and 
while  the  heat  converted  them  into  a  thin  crust  of  coal,  it 
resolved  the  woody  tissue  into  the  silex,  alumina,  and  iron 
of  which  it  was  primarily  composed.  It  is  not  unusual 
to  see  the  limbs  of  trees  thus  changed  into  quartz,  sand- 
stone, limestone,  slate,  or  iron  pyrites;  but  no  human 
being  has  ever  seen  them  converted  into  pure  coal. 

Amber  is  a  species  of  lignite  ;  and  it  is  not  only  valu- 
able in  medicine,  chemistry,  and  the  arts,  but  is  highly 
prized  as  a  beautiful  ornament  in  jewelry.     While  it  was 
yet  soft,  and  exuding  from  the  tree  in  the  form  of  a  gum, 
11 


160  THE  THIRD  DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

amber  formed  a  complete  trap  for  the  forest  insects,  and 
held  them  firmly  in  its  sticky  clasp.  As  the  gum  received 
successive  additions,  these  insects  became  buried  in  the 
substance.  The  subsequent  hardening  and  transparency 
of  the  mineral  exhibits  their  fossils  very  beautifully,  as 
also  the  form  of  leaves  and  flowers  collected  in  a  similar 
manner.  The  stone  is  very  valuable  in  some  countries, 
especially  in  the  East  Indies  ;  but  gems  are  by  no  means 
common.  Nodules,  varying  in  size  from  a  chestnut  to  a 
pine-apple,  are  often  found  in  the  lignite  ;  but  their  degree 
of  transparency  and  beauty  is  irregular. 

Lignite  can  only  be  converted  into  coal  by  separating 
the  woody  tissue  from  the  resinous  matter  that  fills  its 
pores.  As  the  woody  tissue  is  volatilized  by  decomposi- 
tion, the  fermentation  operates  upon  the  remaining  resins, 
and  converts  them  into  bituminous  coal.  This  process  can 
only  be  accomplished  by  heat,  or  very  slowly  and  partially 
by  the  fermentation  caused  by  overlying  pressure.  But 
it  may  be  assumed  that,  so  long  as  the  lignite  remains 
unaffected  by  heat,  the  chemical  changes  will  be  so  slow 
as  never  materially  to  affect  it,  since  the  tar  and  water, 
and  the  oils  permeating  the  woody  structure,  act  as  a 
preservative.  It  is  known  that  railway  sleepers  are  im- 
pregnated with  oil  of  tar,  and  other  bituminous  substances, 
to  prevent  their  decay ;  and  this  process  is  copied  from 
nature  in  t^  preservation  of  lignite.  The  amount  of 
resinous  liquid  injected  into  railway  sleepers,  by  means 
of  hydrostatic  pumps,  averages  about  ten  pounds  per  cubic 
foot.  The  sleepers  thus  prepared  are,  in  many  respects, 
similar  to  lignite  ;  and  were  the  process  of  injection  con- 
tinued as  the  wood  itself  decomposes,  there  would 
ultimately  be  nothing  left  in  the  sleepers  but  compact 
vegetable  resin.  If  this  resin  were  now  exposed  to  slow 
heat,  in  an  air-tight  retort,  the  result  would  be  bituminous 
coal.  If  the  heat  were  continued,  so  as  to  char  and 


ORIGIN    OF   COAL   EXPLAINED.  163 

partially  consume  the  volatile  gases,  the  result  would  be 
anthracite  coal.  Here,  then,  we  have  the  whole  process 
of  the  chemical  transformations  which  the  different 
vegetable  substances  embedded  in  the  earth  undergo. 
Were  the  pitch  lake  of  Trinidad,  or  the  chapapote  of 
Cuba,  or  the  asphalt  of  New  Brunswick,  subjected  to  slow 
heat,  under  the  pressure  of  superimposed  rocks,  they 
would  be  flattened  down  into  a  thin  seam ;  and  the  im- 
prisonment of  their  gases  (not  their  escape)  would  result 
in  a  combination  which  would  be  bituminous  coal.  In- 
creased heat  would  consume  or  decompose  the  inflammable 
gases,  and  the  next  result  would  be  anthracite.  The  heat 
again  increased,  would  transform  the  anthracite  into 
unctuous  plumbago — increasing  the  weight  and  compact- 
ness, in  every  case,  in  proportion  to  the  decrease  of  bulk. 
Before  concluding  my  observations  on  the  coal  forma- 
tion, I  will  notice  a  phenomenon  which  Prof.  Rogers 
claims  to  have  originally  pointed  out  in  explanation  of  the 
gradual  transition  of  bituminous  into  anthracite  coal. 
His  remarks  have  been  copied  and  tacitly  indorsed  by 
Lyell  and  others ;  and  while  they  are  certainly  more 
plausible  than  his  numerous  theories  generally  are,  they 
cannot  stand  the  test  of  critical  examination.  "  It  is  in- 
variably found," says  Mr.  Rogers,  "that  the  coal  of  the 
Allegheny  is  most  bituminous  toward  its  western  termi- 
nus, where  the  veins  are  level  and  unbroken,  and  that  it 
becomes  progressively  debituminized  as  we  travel  south- 
eastward toward  the  more  bent  and  disturbed  rocks. 
Thus,  on  the  Ohio,  the  proportion  of  hydrogen,  oxygen, 
and  other  volatile  matters,  ranges  from  forty  to  fifty  per 
cent.  Eastward  of  this  line,  on  the  Monongahela,  it  still 
approaches  forty  per  cent,  where  the  strata  begin  to  ex- 
perience some  gentle  flexures.  On  entering  the  Alleghany 
Mountains,  where  the  distinct  anticlinal  axes  begin  to 
show  themselves,  but  before  the  dislocations  are  consider- 


162          THE  THIRD  DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

able,  the  volatile  matter  is  generally  in  the  proportion  of 
eighteen  or  twenty  per  cent.  At  length,  when  we  arrive 
at  some  insulated  coal  fields,  associated  with  the  boldest 
flexures  of  the  Appalachian  chain,  where  the  strata  have 
been  actually  turned  over,  as  at  Pottsville  and  Summit 
Hill,  we  find  the  coal  to  contain  only  from  six  to  twelve 
per  cent  of  bitumen,  thus  becoming  a  genuine  anthracite." 

It  would  thus  appear  that  the  bituminous  or  non-bitu- 
minous character  of  the  coal  is  entirely  due  to  the  amount 
and  nature  of  the  disturbance  which  the  inclosing 
measures  have  undergone.  Lyell  says,  "  the  coincidence 
of  these  phenomena  may  be  attributed,  partly  to  the 
greater  facility  afforded  for  the  escape  of  volatile  matter, 
where  the  fracturing  of  the  rocks  had  produced  an  in- 
definite number  of  cracks  and  crevices,  and  also  to  the 
heat  of  the  gases  and  water  penetrating  these  cracks, 
when  the  great  movement  took  place  which  have  rent  and 
folded  the  Appalachian  strata.  It  is  well  known  that,  at 
the  present  period,  thermal  waters  and  hot  vapors  burst 
out  from  the  earth  during  earthquakes,  and  tliese  would 
not  fail  to  promote  the  disengagement  of  volatile  matter 
from  the  carboniferous  rocks." 

Now,  in  the  anthracite  basin,  there  are  from  forty  to 
fifty  different  veins  of  coal,  varying  from  one  to  thirty  feet 
in  thickness,  and  separated  from  each  other  by  rocks  from 
ten  to  one  hundred  yards  in  thickness.  The  disturbance 
which  permitted  the  gases  to  escape  must  have  occurred 
simultaneously  throughout  all  the  measures ;  if  it  did  not 
so  occur,  then  the  escape  of  the  gases  must  have  been 
irregular  as  to  time,  and  a  material  difference  in  the  fixed 
contents  of  the  coal  of  the  lower  and  the  upper  veins 
would  unavoidably  have  ensued.  But  if  these  gases 
escaped  simultaneously  from  all  the  veins  of  coal,  where 
have  we  any  evidence  of  the  fact  ?  The  lower  white  ash 
veins  in  the  southern  part  of  the  Schuylkill  basin  are  two 


ORIGIN   OF   COAL   FXI»LAINED.  163 

thousand  feet  below  the  surface  ; — is  it  to  be  inferred  that 
their  volatile  gases  escaped  through  the  pores  of  the  rocks 
overlying  them?  If  so,  where  is  the  evidence  of  the 
fact  ?  Do  the  rocks  disclose  any  traces  of  such  escape  ? 
Again  :  In  the  Wilkesbarre  region,  the  mammoth  vein,  lies 
within  forty  feet  of  the  surface,  and  often  outcrops,  and 
on  the  Lehigh  summit,  sixty  feet  of  coal  were  long  worked 
in  open  day.  This  coal  was  placed  there  by  the  disturb- 
ance which  twisted  and  folded  the  measures ; — if  there 
was  any  escape  of  gas,  it  would  certainly  have  been 
greater  in  the  coal  thus  exposed  to  the  surface  than  in  that 
two  thousand  feet  below ; — yet  there  is  no  difference  in 
the  fixed  elements  of  the  coal.  It  is  all  anthracite  alike, 
in  all  the  veins,  and  in  all  the  regions.  But  the  measures 
at  some  places  are  not  disturbed — not  nearly  so  much  as 
the  bituminous  measures  often  are  ;  and  yet  the  character 
of  the  coal  is  invariably  maintained.  The  theory  of  the 
escape  of  gas  is  therefore  absolutely  preposterous. 

The  most  probable  explanation  of  the  phenomenon  is, 
not  that  the  gases  escaped,  but  that  they  were  all  retained 
and  formed  new  chemical  compounds,  at  the  time  or  before 
the  measures  were  folded.  The  heat  that  elevated  the 
strata,  with  the  concomitant  friction  and  distortion,  con- 
verted the  coal  into  anthracite  by  the  combustion  of  the 
volatile  gases — -not  by  their  escape  through  the  fissures 
and  pores  of  the  rocks.  For  if  the  coal  had  obtained 
access  to  the  air,  under  the  heat  that  was  then  metamor- 
phosing it,  it  would  have  burned  into  cinders  wherever  so 
exposed,  and  in  no  other  way  and  at  no  other  time  could 
the  hydrogen  have  escaped.  The  evidences  of  heat  are 
found  in  the  scattered  fragments  of  charred  coal,  often 
found  in  the  very  heart  of  the  solid  coal,  and  somewhat 
abundantly  in  the  adjacent  slates.  With  the  coal  thus  on 
fire,  nothing  would  have  checked  its  reduction  to  ashes  if 
carburetted  hydrogen  had  been  expelled  during  the  eleva- 


164  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

tion  of  the  measures.  No  :  tfie  coal  was  anthracite  before 
that  time,  and  combustion  had  been  maintained  from  the 
beginning,  the  result  of  which  was  the  final  extinction  of 
volatile  gases,  and  the  solidification  of  their  resultant  soot 
or  lamp-black  into  mineral  anthracite. 

A  few  years  ago,  in  England,  specimens  of  bituminous 
coal  were  subjected  to  microscopical  examinations ;  the 
result  of  which  was  the  supposed  recognition  of  the  vege- 
table structure  of  the  coal.  This,  although  contradicting 
the  idea  of  the  Lyell  geologists,  that  the  woody  tissue  had 
been  reduced  to  pulp  as  a  necessary  preliminary  for  its 
conversion  into  coal,  was  hailed  as  an  overwhelming  de- 
monstration of  its  vegetable  or  arborescent  structure. 
Having  examined  coal  under  the  most  powerful  micro-- 
scopes  in  America,  I  may  here  give  my  opinion  of  the 
value  of  the  test.  A  slice  of  coal  has  to  be  prepared  so 
thin  that  it  will  be  transparent.  The  slice  is  not  thicker 
than  a  sheet  of  ordinary  writing  paper,  and  not  larger  than 
the  superficies  of  a  ten  cent  coin.  It  is  almost  impossible 
to  prepare  such  a  slice  from  pure  bituminous  or  anthracite 
coal ; — hence  the  experiments  that  have  been  reported 
were  originally  made  with  brown  coal  or  lignite,  the  woody 
structure  of  which  nobody  has  ever  questioned.  Coarse 
and  earthy  bituminous  coal  exhibits  cells  similar  to  that 
of  pine  wood.  These  cells  are  filled  up  with  resinous 
matter  ;  and  the  porous  structure  of  the  wood  is  maintained 
after  the  woody  reticulation  is  obliterated.  Earthy  resin, 
therefore,  has  the  same  structure  as  the  coal ;  and  its 
porosity  only  diminishes  with  the  degree  of  compact- 
ness. The  porosity  of  coal  and  resin  is  always  after  the 
original  porosity  of  the  wood — and  the  supposed  woody 
structure  is  altogether  due  to  the  instincts  of  the  mineral 
(if  I  may  use  such  a  word)  to  crystallize  in .  that  form. 
Sulphuret  of  lead  and  of  iron  always  crystallize  in  the 
cubic  system,  and  it  may  be  assumed  that  every  mineral 


ORIGIN   OF   COAL   EX  IT.  UNED.  165 

has  its  peculiar  crystalline  form.  Crystals  of  acetate  of 
lead,  dissolved  in  water,  upon  the  introduction  of  metallic 
zinc,  will  accumulate  upon  its  surface,  as  a  thin  coating, 
and  branch  out  in  a  manner  exactly  resembling  the 
branches  and  foliage  of  a  tree.  The  crystals  thus  ob- 
tained are  metallic  spangles  of  pure  lead.  Even  native 
copper,  silver,  and  metallic  antimony  often  assume  a 
branching  and  arborescent  structure.  In  view  of  the 
vegetable  origin  of  coal,  no  one  can  be  surprised  at  its 
cellular,  fibrous,  reticulated,  or  medullar  structure,  under 
the  microscope ;  but  inasmuch  as  the  trees  found  in  the 
coal  are  usually  squeezed  down  to  the  thinness  of  paste- 
board, it  would  be  folly  to  look  for  the  original  structure 
of  the  trees  themselves  !  And  since  we  know  that  all 
coal  was  soft,  and  a  glutinous  liquid,  as  a  necessary  pre- 
liminary to  its  chemical  transformation,  it  is  idle  to  main- 
tain that  the  arborescent  structure  it  reveals  is  in  reality 
that  of  trees.  * 

*  In  drawing  the  affairs  of  the  Third  Day  to  a  close,  I  may  perhaps 
add  a  few  words,  for  the  sake  of  affording  completeness  to  its  principal 
phenomena,  rather  than  from  any  pertinency  which  they  may  bear  to  the 
general  subject.  We  have  alluded  to  the  escape  of  carbonic  acid  and 
other  gases  as  the  cause  of  explosions  in  coal  mines.  Such  explosions  are 
similar  to  those  of  powder,  except  that  they  are  generally  more  violent 
und  destructive.  The  atmosphere  is  converted  into  a  cloud  of  fire,  and 
every  thing  is  dashed  to  atoms  that  falls  within  its  grasp.  The  flery  tem- 
pest seizes  the  timbers  of  the  mine,  the  rubbish,  and  fragments  of  coal,  and 
dashes  them  against  the  side-rocks; — the  men,  if  they  elude  the  blast, 
have  their  ears,  mouths,  and  nostrils  filled  with  sand  and  mud,  and  sus- 
tain more  or  less  bodily  injury  from  the  mere  atmospheric  concussion. 
They  often  avoid  the  fire  by  falling  down  on  their  faces,  and  letting  the 
terrific  demon  ride  over  them.  But,  unless  the  ventilating  currents  in 
the  mine  are  very  strong,  the  choke  damp  immediately  ensues,  which  is 
even  more  formidable  in  its  effects.  The  atmospheric  air  being  destroyed 
by  the  explosion,  for  a  time  there  is  left  nothing  to  breathe  but  poisonous 
mephitic  vapor — hence  death  by  suffocation  often  follows. 

This  is  thy  work,  fell  Tyrant ! — this  the  miner's  common  lot. 
In  danger's  darkling  den  he  toils,  and  dies  lamented  not! 


166  THE   THIRD   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

To  revert,  in  conclusion,  to  the  antiquity  of  the  earth, 
which  was  briefly  considered  among  the  phenomena  of 
the  First  Day :  No  one  can  fail  to  perceive,  in  the  alter- 
nation of  so  many  distinct  seams  of  coal  and  earthy  strata, 
the  utter  impossibility  of  the  creation  having  occurred 
simultaneously  with  the  first  effort  of  the  Almighty  voli- 
tion. It  will  be  observed,  on  the  contrary,  that  Moses,  in 
assigning  six  distinct  and  separate  epochs,  and  giving  to 
each  their  respective  features,  was  perfectly  correct,  and 
that  his  narrative  is  entirely  corroborated  by  all  the  known 
laws  and  facts  of  Science,  and  practical  experience  and 
observation.  The  work  of  the  great  coal  era  occupied 

The  array  hath  its  pensioners — the  sons  of  ocean  rest 
When  battle's  crimson  flag  is  furled,  on  bounty's  downy  breast — 
But  who  regards  the  mining  slave,  that  for  his  country's  wealth 
Resigns  his  sleep,  his  pleasures,  home,  freedom,  and  his  health? 
From  the  glad  skies  and  fragrant  fields  he  cheerfully  descends, 
And  eats  his  bread  in  stenchy  caves,  where  his  existence  ends ! 

In  England,  on  one  occasion,  out  of  two  hundred  men  in  the  mine 
during  an  explosion,  one  hundred  and  ninety-six  were  instantly  killed. 
In  France,  on  a  Monday  morning,  when  the  miners,  one  after  the  other, 
were  descending  the  shaft,  the  first  fell  dead  in  a  paroxysm  of  asphyxia. 
The  next  one,  attempting  to  aid  him,  came  within  the  stratum  of  carbonic 
acid,  and  also  fell  dead.  The  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  shared  the  same 
fate,  in  the  effort  to  extend  aid;  and  there  is  no  telling  where  it  would 
have  stopped,  had  not  the  sixth  man  turned  round,  and  forced  the  others 
to  return  up  the  ladder.  The  number  of  victims  to  these  dreadful  casu- 
alties in  England,  some  years  ago,  caused  the  government  to  institute 
measures  for  the  better  security  of  life  in  the  coal  districts;  for  although 
the  Davy  lamp,  which  was  then  introduced,  enables  one  to  penetrate  the 
fiery  mixture  with  impunity,  and  to  point  out  its  presence  wherever  it 
exists  in  dangerous  combination,  it  cannot  be  conveniently  or  economi- 
cally used  for  the  practical  purposes  of  mining.  The  lamp  is  surrounded 
by  thin  wire  gauze,  like  the  delicate  net-work  of  a  bolting-cloth,  and  the 
discovery  that  the  noxious  gases  did  not  penetrate  through  it,  so  as  to 
produce  explosions,  constitutes  its  great  merit  and  beauty.  In  this  re- 
spect, it  is  one  of  the  greatest  achievements  of  modern  science  on  record. 
The  lamp  is  called  after  its  distinguished  inventor,  Sir  Humphrey 
Davy. 


FOSSIL   TREES   IN   COAL.  167 

many  successive  ages — ages  coextensive  in  duration  with 
the  stupendous  magnitude  of  the  work  itself. 

The  universal  distribution  of  coal  over  the  surface  of 
the  earth,  in  cold  as  well  as  in  warm  climates  (but  more 
particularly  in  cold  ones  !),  points  to  the  universal  climate 
that  must  have  prevailed  during  that  era  as  one  of  the 
necessities  of  the  growth  of  the  vegetation.  But,  as 
already  intimated,  the  clintate  was  affected  more  by  the 
radiated  heat  of  the  interior  earth,  than  by  the  solar  rays. 
This  is  manifest  from  the  fact  that  volcanic  eruptions  con- 
tinued, at  intervals,  until  the  close  of  the  Tertiary ;  and 
their  effects  are  exhibited  everywhere  in  dykes  and  the 
upheaval  of  vast  mountain  chains.  The  Creator  in- 
variably placed  coal  in  all  those  situations  where  the  cli- 
mate now  demands  it.  Dr.  Kane  brought  with  him 
specimens  obtained  in  the  frozen  regions  of  the  Arctic 
circle,  where  the  vegetation  that  at  all  resembles  that  of 
the  coal  period  is  now  dwarfed  and  stunted  The  same 
species  in  tropical  regions,  however,  attains  a  prolific  de- 
velopment— thus  leaving  us  to  infer  that,  during  the  coal 
period,  the  climate  was  everywhere  warm,  humid,  and 
similar  to  our  vernal  seasons.  So  thoroughly  was  the 
whole  Paleozoic  atmosphere  adapted  to  vegetation — so 
completely  and  exclusively  carboniferous  in  its  qualities, 
that  it  was,  in  fact,  totally  unfit  for  the  support  of  the 
higher  sorts  of  animal  nature,  and  we  can  find  no  traces 
of  any  other  creatures  in  it  than  those  belonging  to  the 
class  of  Radiata  and  Mollusca,  the  two  lowest  divisions 
of  animal  life,  with  a  few  obscure  and  singular  creatures 
partaking  of  the  nature  of  fish  and  reptiles,  but  far  beneath 
both  in  physical  organization. 

Agreeably,  therefore,  to  the  Mosaic  revelation,  to  geo- 
logical evidence,  and  to  all  rational,  practical,  and  philo- 
sophical deduction,  we  are  bound  to  recognize  this  great 
period  (from  the  Metamorphfc  to  the  Carboniferous)  as 


168          THE  THIRD  DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

the  age  of  Vegetation — an  age  beginning  with  vegetation, 
and  closing  with  it,  and  occupying,  for  the  time  being,  the 
whole  surface  of  the  earth  ; — and  having  thus  fulfilled,  in 
every  respect,  the  grand  purposes  primarily  contemplated 
in  the  divine  scheme,  a  series  of  new  and  somewhat  differ- 
ent phenomena  were  now  to  be  developed.  Moses,  there- 
fore, in  devoting  the  Third  Day  exclusively  to  vegetation, 
was  essentially  correct,  although,  for  thousands  of  years, 
the  world  was  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  what  were  re- 
garded as  black  stones,  were  in  reality  the  fossilized  re- 
mains of  vast  primitive  forests  1  The  discovery  of  this 
fact  was  reserved  for  modern  Geology — a  science  still  in 
its  infancy,  and  wholly  unknown  to  the  earlier  races  of 
mankind.  And  the  simple  fact  that  Moses  pointed  it  out, 
in  the  true  order  of  geological  position,  shows  conclusively 
that  he  was  endowed  with  an  intelligence  amounting  to 
absolute  inspiration  ! 

I  will  again  conclude  with  a  quotation  from  Milton, 
who  briefly  recounts  the  phenomena  of  the  Third  Day  in 
classic  measure — well  worthy  of  the  angel  Raphael,  who 
is  supposed  to  be  enlightening  the  mind  of  Adam  in  the 
jrysteries  of  the  earth  and  of  his  own  creation  : 

The  earth  was  formed,  but,  in  the  womb  as  yet 
Of  waters  embryon  immature  involved, 
Appeared  not :  over  all  the  face  of  earth 
Main  ocean  flowed,  not  idle,  but  with  warm 
Prolific  humor  soft'ning  all  her  globe 
Fermented  the  great  mother  to  conceive, 
Satiate  with  genial  moisture,  when  God  said, 
Be  gathered  now,  ye  waters  under  heaven, 
Into  one  place,  and  let  dry  land  appear. 
Immediately  the  mountains  huge  appear 
Emergent  and  their  broad  bare  backs  upheave 
Into  the  clouds,  their  tops  ascend  the  sky. 
So  high  as  heaved  the  tumid  hills,  so  low 
Down  sunk  a  hollow  bottom,  broad  and  deep, 


MILTON'S  THIRD  DAY.  169 

Capacious  bed  of  waters  :  thither  they 

Hasted  with  glad  precipitance,  uprolled 

As  drops  on  dust  conglobing  from  the  dry  j 

Part  rise  in  crystal  wall,  or  ridge  direct, 

For  haste  j  such  flight  the  great  command  imprest 

On  the  swift  floods :  as  armies  at  the  call 

Of  trumpet  (for  of  armies  thou  hast  heard), 

Troop  to  their  standard,  so  the  wat'ry  throng, 

Wave  rolling  after  wave,  where  way  they  found : 

If  steep,  with  torrent  raptufre,  if  through  plain, 

Soft-ebbing  :  nor  withstood  them  rock  or  hill, 

But  they,  or  under  ground,  or  circuit  wide, 

With  serpent  error  wand'ring,  found  their  way, 

And  on  the  washy  ooze  deep  channels  wore, 

Easy,  ere  God  had  bid  the  ground  be  dry, 

All  but  within  those  banks,  where  rivers  now 

Stream,  and  perpetual  draw  their  hurried  train. 

The  dry  land  Earth,  and  the  great  receptacle 

Of  congregated  waters  he  called  Seas  ; 

And  saw  that  it  was  good,  and  said,  Let  the  earth 

Put  forth  the  verdant  grass,  herb  yielding  seed, 

And  fruit  tree  yielding  fruit  after  her  kind ; 

Whose  seed  is  in  herself  upon  the  earth. 

He  scarce  had  said,  when  the  bare  earth,  till  then 

Desert  and  bare,  unsightly,  unadorned, 

Brought  forth  the  tender  grass,  whose  verdure  clad 

Her  universal  face  with  pleasant  green ; 

Then  herbs  of  every  leaf,  that  sudden  flowered 

Opening  their  various  colors,  and  made  gay 

Her  bosom  smelling  sweet ;  and  these  scarce  blown, 

Forth  flourished  thick  the  clustering  vine,  forth  crept 

The  swelling  gourd,  up  stood  the  corny  reed 

Embattled  in  her  field;  and  the  humble  shrub, 

And  bush  with  frizzled  hair  implicit :  last 

Hose,  as  in  dance,  the  stately  trees,  and  spread 

Their  branches  hung  with  copious  fruit,  or  gemmed 

Their  blossoms  :  with  high  woods  the  hills  were  crowned; 

With  tufts  the  valleys  and  each  fountain  side 

With  borders  long  the  rivers  ;  that  earth  now 

Seemed  like  to  heaven,  a  seat  where  gods  might  dwell, 

Or  wander  with  delight,  and  love  to  haunt 

Her  sacred  shades :  though  God  had  yet  not  rained 

Upon  the  earth,  and  man  to  till  the  ground 


170  THE  THIRD  DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

None  was;  but  from  the  earth  a  dewy  mist 
Went  up,  and  watered  all  the  ground,  and  each 
Plant  of  the  field;  which,  ere  it  was  in  the  earth, 
God  made,  and  every  herb,  before  it  grew 
On  the  green  stem  :  God  saw  that  it  was  good, 
So  ev'n  and  morn  recorded  the  Third  Day. — Milton. 


THE  FOURTH  DAY— ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. 

14  And  God  said,  Let  there  be  lights  in  the  firmament  of  the  heaven 
to  divide  the  day  from  the  night;  and  let  them  he  for  signs,  and  for 
seasons,  and  for  days,  and  years :  15  And  let  them  be  for  lights  in  the 
firmament  of  the  heaven  to  give  light  upon  the  earth :  and  it  was  so. 
16  And  God  made  two  great  lights :  the  greater  light  to  rule  the  day,  and 
the  lesser  light  to  rule  the  night:  he  made  the  stars  also.  17  And  God 
set  them  in  the  firmament  of  the  heaven  to  give  light  upon  the  earth. 
18  And  to  rule  over  the  day  and  over  the  night,  and  to  divide  the  light 
from  the  darkness;  and  God  saw  that  it  was  good.  19  And  the  evening 
and  the  morning  were  the  fuurth  day. 

THERE  is  no  portion  of  the  Old  Testament  which  has 
created  more  difficulty  in  the  reconciliation  of  Revelation 
and  physical  Cosmogony,  than  the  lines  here  quoted;  and 
yet  I  venture  to  say  there  is  no  portion  of  the  holy  record 
the  integrity  of  which  is  more  readily  susceptible  of  vin- 
dication. Moses  addresses  himself  to  the  people  of  all 
climes,  and  nations,  and  tongues  ;  and  while  his  language 
has  all  the  simplicity  to  commend  it  to  the  meanest  intel- 
lect, it  has  the  extraordinary  peculiarity  of  embodying  the 
most  wonderful  scientific  phenomena.  While  his  words 
and  facts  are  distinctly  comprehended  by  the  weak  and 
lowly,  they  defy  the  closest  scrutiny  of  the  learned.  He 
is  plain  to  the  plain  ;  but  doubly  fortified  against  the  wise. 
To  the  one,  he  presents  the  fixed  and  unalterable  quality 
of  numerals ;  to  the  other,  he  occupies  tffe  loftiest  heights 
of  natural  philosophy,  and  seemingly  anticipates  all  the 
assaults  of  human  speculation,  reason,  and  experience. 

We  have  already  remarked,  that  during  the  coal  period, 
the  atmosphere  was  highly  charged  with  carbonic  acid, 


172  THE   FOURTH   DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. 

The  interior  heat  of  the  earth  was  still  felt  upon  the  sur- 
face ;  and  its  radiation  had  the  effect  of  generating;  mois- 
ture and  mists  from  the  shallow  shores  of  seas  and  lakes. 
The  whole  surface  of  the  land  may  be  described  as  some- 
what similar  to  the  coasts  of  Newfoundland.  The  sea- 
shore for  twenty,  thirty,  and  fifty  miles  from  the  land,  is 
very  shallow,  but  precipitately  falls  into  the  basin  of  the 
ocean.  The  shallowness  of  the  water  generates  mists  and 
fogs,  which  often  extend  several  hundred  miles  into  the 
ocean,  or  over  the  nearest  land.  The  steamers  crossing 
the  Atlantic  are  frequently  surrounded  by  these  fogs  for 
two  or  three  -days  at  a  time ;  and,  notwithstanding  the 
usual  precautions,  the  most  terrible  accidents  and  loss  of 
human  life  in  the  records  of  nautical  experience,  have  re- 
sulted from  them.  They  are  sometimes  so  dense,  that  the 
most  brilliant  light  cannot  be  perceived  at  a  distance  of 
thirty  or  forty  yards. 

The  vapor  radiated  from  the  surface  of  the  earth  may  not 
have  been  as  dense  as  these  fogs,  but  its  geographical  dif- 
fusion was  considerably  greater.  By  far  the  largest  portion 
of  the  surface  of  the  earth  was  still  occupied  by  water, 
and  land  occurred,  forthe  most  part,  in  vast  islands  or  marshy 
plains  and  peninsulas.  The  atmosphere  was  consequently 
warm,  humid,  and  not  unlike  that  which  encircles  a  volcanic 
crater  previous  to  an  eruption — it  was  full  of  carbonic  acid. 
We  often  experience  something  like  it  immediately  before 
a  summer  thunder  shower.  The  air  gradually  becomes 
sultry,  and  the  sky  is  murky  and  strewn  with  dark  clouds. 
During  the  spring,  such  weather  often  continues  several 
weeks  without  interruption ;  and  while  it  awakens,  and 
greatly  promotes  the  growth  of  vegetation,  the  effect  on 
the  animal  spirits  is  in  the  highest  degree  depressing. 
If  such  weather  continued  for  years,  instead  of  days  and 
weeks,  it  would  render  vegetation  very  nearly  as  prolific 
as  that  of  the  coal  period,  and  perhaps  materially  change 


ATMOSPHERE   OP   THE   COAL   PERIOD.  173 

its  character;  but  it  would  at  the  same  time  prove  dele- 
terious to  animal  life,  if  it  did  not  ultimately  extinguish 
many  air-breathing  species. 

During  the  carboniferous  era,  although  the  light  of  the 
sun  may  have  prevailed  to  some  extent  on  the  surface  of 
the  earth,  and  had  regularly  and  gradually  increased  in 
force  over  the  previous  periods,  yet  it  had  not  thoroughly 
penetrated  or  dispelled  the  zone  of  vapor  which  then  hung 
over  it.  Its  light  must  have  been  subdued,  mellow, 
and  bronze-like.  Had  it  shone  with  full  brilliance  and 
intensity,  vegetation  could  not  have  attained  so  prolific  a 
development — its  leaves  and  succulent  stems  would  have 
prematurely  withered  and  decomposed,  and  the  juices  of 
the  forests  been  evaporated.  But  the  earth  was,  in  fact, 
a  vast  hot-house,  surrounded  by  a  zone  of  carbonic  acid, 
which  the  feeble  rays  of  the  sun  in  some  measure  rendered 
luminous ;  but  which  it  was  necessary  completely  to  dispel, 
before  the  atmosphere  could  be  made  transparent.  This 
was  finally  accomplished  mainly  by  the  prolific  vege- 
tation itself,  which,  in  absorbing  the  carbonic  acid,  and 
transferring  it  in  fixed  carbon  to  the  bottom  of  the  coal 
lakes,  removed  the  principal  obstruction.  But  after  the 
deposition  of  the  innumerable  layers  of  coal  and  lime- 
stone, a  general  and  universal  expansion  of  the  "dry  land" 
again  occurred,  and  continued  with  force  only  diminished 
at  particular  localities,  throughout  the  succeeding  Sec- 
ondary and  Tertiary  formations.  Thousands  of  volcanoes 
were  at  this  time  in  active  operation  in  South  America, 
Asia,  and  Africa ;  and  they  were  constantly  enlarging  the 
base  and  increasing  the  elevation  of  mountains,  while 
raising  up  new  ones  out  of  the  sea  or  on  the  level  plains. 
In  the  United  States  there  were  but  few  volcanic  erup- 
tions, but  the  expansion,  vibration,  and  upward  movement 
of  the  crust,  produced  the  series  of  great  wave-like  flexures 
which  distinguish  the  Alleghany  mountains.  The  work 


174  THE   FOURTH   DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL 

of  elevating  this  vast  chain  or  system  was,  in  all  proba- 
bility, gradual ;  and  the  up-lifting  or  expansive  movement 
must  have  commenced  soon  after  the  coal  which  they  con- 
tain was  deposited.  Similar  movements  were  begun  m, 
the  same  time,  in  various  other  quarters  of  the  earth, 
where  coal  had  been  thus  formed.  The  main  Alleghany, 
or  central  axis,  was  the  first  to  emerge  ;  and  its  rising 
necessarily  produced  vibrations  in  the  soft  matter  of  the 
crust,  on  either  side.  When  a  submerged  log  is  raised,  or 
while  emerging  from  the  water,  a  wave-like  movement  is 
produced  on  the  surface  on  both  sides,  which  gradually 
diminishes  with  the  distance  from  the  disturbing  object. 
It  was  thus  with  these  and  other  mountains ;  while  we 
find  them  lying  parallel  to  each  other,  they  gradually  di- 
minish in  altitude  from  the  central  axis,  which  may  be 
distinguished  by  its  uninterrupted  continuity,  or  by  its  not 
being  cut  down  by  the  great  chasms  or  gaps  which 
characterize  all  the  subordinate  ones.  As  the  central  axis 
arose,  the  waters  of  the  lakes  and  sea  rolled  away  with 
violence  ;  but  were,  in  a  measure,  again  arrested  by  the 
emergence  of  the  secondaries,  and  thus  confined,  for  a 
time,  in  the  intervening  valleys  which  they  helped  to 
originate.  Mountain  after  mountain  thus  arose,  upon  a 
plane  gradually  sloping  from  the  central  or  primary  axis. 
The  retrogression  of  the  sea  occupied  successively  the 
valleys  thus  formed,  and  deposited,  during  its  brief  sojourn, 
the  beds  of  new  red  sandstone  and  fossiliferous  limestones 
which  we  find  in  them  in  various  places,  and  which,  of  course, 
lie  in  unconformable  order  to,  but  not  over  the  coal  strata. 
The  new  red  was  derived  from  the  beds  of  the  old  red 
sandstone,  which,  in  the  anthracite  regions,  was  deposited 
by  fresh  water ;  but  its  subsequent  attrition  in  the  sea, 
rendered  the  new  red  layers  a  marine  deposit,  and  they 
consequently  exhibit  sparingly  the-remains  of  marine  life. 
The  mountains  were  finally  drained  by  the  sea,  in  it8 


ATMOSPHERE   OF   THE   COAL   PERIOD.          .          175 

gradual  withdrawal  in  a  direction  toward  the  southwestern 
terminus ;  but  the  valleys  were  for  a  long  period  afterward 
occupied  by  great  fresh-water  lakes.  These  finally  found 
vent  through  the  gaps  of  the  mountains,  and  then  pursued 
the  natural  slope  of  the  Alleghany  plane  to  the  present 
basin  of  the  sea.  The  continuance  of  elevation  filled  these 
valleys  with  the  water  permeating  the  strata  of  the  moun- 
tains, and  these  constitute  the  sources  of  all  the  rivers 
and  lakes  now  flowing  from  them.  And  it  is  worthy  of 
notice  that,  from  the  highest  peak  of  the  Alleghany,  in  a 
spot  not  over  two  square  miles  in  area,  one  may  drink 
from  the  crystal  waters  gushing  up  from  springs  which 
are  discharged  respectively  into  the  Gulf  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence, the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  the  Chesapeake  bay.  The 
waters  thus  emerging  from  the  Alleghany  mountain,  in  Penn- 
sylvania, mingle  with  the  waters  of  nearly  every  State  in  the 
Union,  and  finally  with  those  of  every  nation  on  the  earth. 

Now,  while  the  climate  of  the  coal  and  of  the  preceding 
periods  was  very  nearly  universal  all  over  the  land,  the 
elevation  of  the  mountains,  from  time  to  time,  and  the 
consequent  disturbance  of  the  waters  of  the  sea,  produced 
a  very  material  refrigeration  and  diversity  of  atmospheric 
temperature.  The  currents  of  air  and  water,  reciprocally 
generated  by  mountains  and  intervening  valleys,  as  well 
as  by  surface  drainage,  soon  changed  it  into  many  varieties, 
varying  from  the  icy  coldness  of  the  frigid  zone  to  the 
melting  heat  of  the  torrid.  The  atmosphere  thus  purified, 
was  not  long  in  revealing,  in  all  their  glory  and  beauty, 
those  heavenly  lamps,  the  light  of  which  separates  forever 
the  day  from  the  night,  and  prepared  the  earth  for  the 
still  higher  creative  scenes  that  were  to  ensue. 

God   said,   "  Let  there  be  light  in  the  firmament  of 

heaven  to  divide  the  day  from  the  night ;   and  let  them 

be  for  signs,  and  for  seasons,  and  for  days  and  years." 

Although,  so  far  as  animal  life  was  concerned,  there  could 

12 


176  THE   FOURTH   DAY — ASTR£-GEOLOGICAL. 

then  have  been  no  practical  use  for  signs,  or  stasons,  or 
days,  we  have  the  best  grounds  to  infer  that  they  did  not 
and  could  not  previously  have  existed  in  their  present 
form.  The  climate  was  a  perpetual  tropical  spring — 
vegetation  was  bursting  forth  at  all  times,  and  was  only 
checked  by  its  own  excessive  gravity  to  proceed  further. 
The  obscurity  of  the  sun  and  moon  and  stars  rendered  it 
a  perpetual  day,  or  a  day  combining  the  features  of  night 
and  day ;  and  there  was,  consequently,  no  regular  astro- 
nomical movement  by  which  "signs,  seasons,  days,  or 
years,"  could  have  been  determined.  It  was,  in  short,  an 
embryonic  condition  immediately  preceding  the  regular 
operation  of  the  law  of  gravitation,  of  vital  force,  and 
organic  life  ;  for  although  we  had  light  in  the  first  day,  as 
an  element  of  the  nebulosity  of  the  earth,  and  primarily 
of  all  the  other  planets  ; — yet,  in  this  case,  we  require  the 
lights  in  the  firmament  of  heaven  expressly  "  to  rule  over 
the  earth,"  and  to  be  "for  signs  and  seasons."  God, 
therefore,  "made  two  great  lights — the  greater  light  to 
rule  over  the  day,  and  the  lesser  light  to  rule  over  the 
night.  He  made  the  stars  also." 

Now,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  (as  it  almost  always  is 
supposed)  that  the  lights  here  spoken  of  were  made  for 
the  first  time — that  is,  created.  The  lights  were  now 
"  made  to  rule  over  the  day  and  night,"  and  God  had  set 
them  previously  in  the  firmament  to  afford  such  light  to 
the  earth.  The  action,  in  some  measure,  is  expressed  in 
the  present  tense  ; — but  the  true  meaning  is  unquestion- 
ably retrospective  upon  the  previous  days  The  natural 
and  logical  inference  then  is,  (for  no  one  can  doubt  but  that 
Moses  fully  comprehended  all  the  phenomena  upon  which 
his  scenes  are  based),  that  the  light  of  the  sun,  moon,  and 
stars  had  not  yet  penetrated  through  the  vapors  surround- 
ing the  earth,  and  could  therefore  have  exercised  but  little 
astronomical  influence  ;  and  it  was  to  permanently  estab- 


MOSES  AND  THE  ASTRONOMERS.  If7 

lisli  that  influence,  and  to  rule  over  the  earth,  i  .ctt  their 
light  finally  predominated.  In  support  of  this  proposi- 
tion, it  is  sufficient  to  know  three  great  facts  :  first,  that 
in  the  earlier  eras  volcanic  eruptions  were  constantly  oc- 
curring, the  hot  steam  and  vapor  of  which  were  enormous 
and  uninterrupted ;  second,  that  upon  the  partial  subsi- 
dence of  volcanoes,  a  prolific  vegetation  was  nourished, 
which  never  could  have  withstood  the  scorching  rays  of 
the  sun,  in  addition  to  the  radiated  heat  of  the  earth  ;  and 
third,  that  no  land  animals  are  found  in  any  of  these 
strata,  and  that  they  could,  under  no  circumstances,  have 
breathed  the  mephitic  atmosphere  that  then  prevailed. 

And  it  is  a  fact  of  no  ordinary  significance,  as  betray- 
ing the  solid  and  enduring  basis  upon  which  the  holy 
record  is  founded,  that  while  Moses  makes  the  sun  and 
moon  rule  over  the  earth,  the  system  of  Hipparchus  and 
Ptolemy,  which  prevailed  in  Greece  and  throughout  the 
world  for  nearly  fourteen  centuries,  and  was  as  firmly  and 
universally  established  as  any  religious  dogma,  made  the 
earth  rule  over  them  !  It  is  true  that  different  and  more 
correct  views  had  previously  been  entertained,  not  only 
by  the  earlier  Grecian  philosophers,  but  by  the  Chaldeans, 
Egyptians,  and  the  Chinese.  But  Ptolemy,  in  the  second 
century  after  Christ,  was  the  first  astronomer  who  wrote 
and  promulgated  a  complete  system  ;  and  the  theory  upon 
which  it  was  based,  was  in  direct  contradiction  to  that 
indicated  by  Moses.  Regarding  the  earth  as  the  centre 
of  the  universe,  the  Ptolemaists  found  great  difficulty  in 
accounting  for  the  irregularities  of  the  planets  in  their 
supposed  revolutions  around  it.  They  sought  to  over- 
come this  barrier  by  supposing  an  individual,  holding  a 
light,  and  describing  a  waltzing  movement  around  a 
room ; — to  a  spectator  in  the  centre,  the  light  would  ap- 
pear only  alternately.  Thus  it  was  ingeniously  assumed 
that  the  centres  only  of  the  planets  revolved  regularly 


178  THE   FOURTH    DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. 

around  the  earth,  while  their  diurnal  movements  produced 
the  singular  gyrations  for  which  they  could  not  otherwise 
account.  These  absurd  theories  were  overthrown,  early 
in  the  sixteenth  century,  by  the  celebrated  Nicholas 
Copernicus,  who  again  placed  the  sun  in  the  centre  of  the 
universe,  and  resolved  a  great  many  complicated  phe- 
nomena through  the  discovery  of  the  movements  of  the 
earth,  and  how  far  those  movements  affected  our  observa- 
tions of  other  sidereal  bodies.  Under  his  theories  and 
mathematical  deductions,  Astronomy  assumed  a  precision 
which  it  had  never  known  before ;  and  the  result  was, 
that  it  soon  became  invaluable  for  "  signs,  and  for  seasons, 
and  for- days  and  years."  Although  the  discoveries  of 
Copernicus  did  not  directly  lead  to  the  subsequent  bril- 
liant achievements  of  the  seventeenth  century,  his  funda- 
mental views  served  to  indicate  to  "  theoretical  astronomy 
paths  which  could  not  fail  to  lead  to  sure  results,  and  to 
the  solution  of  problems  which  of  necessity  demanded  and 
led  to  a  greater  degree  of  perfection  in  the  analytic  cal- 
culus."* An  opinion  has  prevailed  that  Copernicus  was 
intimidated  in  the  expression  of  his  theories  by  the  fear 
of  priestly  persecution ;  but  Humboldt  dispels  this  im- 
pression, and  observes  "  that  the  founder  of  our  present 
system  of  the  universe  (for  to  him  incontestably  belong 
the  most  important  parts  of  it,  and  the  grandest  features 
of  the  design,)  was  almost  more  distinguished,  if  possible, 
by  the  intrepidity  and  confidence  with  which  he  expressed 
his  opinions,  than  for  the  knowledge  to  which  they  owed 
their  origin."  In  describing,  in  his  dedication  to  Pope 
Paul  III.,  the  origin  of  his  work  (a  work  only  printed  at 
his  death,  1543,  and  which  he  merely  saw  and  touched 
on  his  dying  bed),  he  does  not  scruple  to  term  the  opinion 
"generally  expressed  among  theologians,  of  the  immobility 

;      *  Humboldt's  Cosmos,  vol.  ii.  p.  305. 


PTOLEMY,    COPERNICUS,    AND   BRAHE.  179 

and  central  position  of  the  earth,  "an  absurd  acroama," 
and  to  attack  the  stupidity  of  those  who  adhere  to  so 
erroneous  a  doctrine.  "  If  ever,"  he  writes,  "  any  empty- 
headed  babblers,  ignorant  of  all  mathematical  science, 
should  take  upon  themselves  to  pronounce  judgment  on 
his  work  through  an  intentional  distortion  of  any  passage 
in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  he  should  despise  so  presumptuous 
an  attack."  In  order  to  show  that,  deeply  penetrated 
with  the  truth  of  his  own  deductions,  he  had  no  cause  to 
fear  the  judgment  that  might  be  passed  upon  him,  he 
turned  his  prayers  from  a  remote  corner  of  the  earth  to 
the  head  of  the  Church,  begging  that  he  would  "  protect 
him  from  the  assaults  of  calumny,  since  the  Church  itself 
would  derive  advantage  from  his  investigations  on  the 
length  of  the  year  and  the  movements  of  the  moon."  As- 
trology and  improvements  in  the  calendar  long  procured 
protection  for  astronomy  from  the  secular  and  ecclesi- 
astical powers,  as  chemistry  and  botany  were  long  es- 
teemed as  purely  subservient  auxiliaries  to  the  science  of 
medicine.* 

Notwithstanding  the  light  which  the  great  mind  of  Co- 
pernicus had  thrown  upon  the  mechanism  of  the  universe, 
most  astronomers  still  adhered  to  the  main  features  of  the 
Ptolemaic  theory,  and  persisted  in  regarding  the  earth  as 
the  common  centre,  around  which  all  the  other  planets, 
including  the  sun,  revolved.  At  the  head  of  these,  and 
at  the  head  of  astronomical  science,  stood  Tycho  Brahe, 
whose  investigations,  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century, 
were  munificently  supported  by  the  king  of  Denmark. 
Toward  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century,  when  the 
doctrines  of. Copernicus  had  almost  been  forgotten,  Brahe 
received  at  his  observatory  on  the  Island  of  Huen,  an  en- 
thusiastic young  German,  named  Kepler. 

.^.   .  _ 

OF  THE 

*  Huraboldt's  Cosmos,  vol  ii.  p.  307. 


180  'THE   FOURTH   DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. 

viously  elaborated  an  ingenious  but  fallacious  hypothesis 
on  the  cosmogony  and  morphology  of  worlds,  which 
excited  the  admiration  of  his  future  instructor,  as  betray- 
ing the  depth,  elasticity,  and  clearness  of  his  mind.  Up 
to  this  time,  it  was  not  only  generally  thought  that  the 
earth  was  the  centre  of  the  planetary  universe,  but  it  was 
also  held,  contrary  to^the  exemplifications  of  Copernicus, 
that  their  revolutions  around  their  primaries  described  true, 
circles  and  a  uniform  movement.  Copernicus  had  so  far 
modified  this  hypothesis  as  to  suppose  that  the  earth,  in 
revolving  around  the  sun,  gradually  moved  outside  and 
then  as  gradually  inside  of  the  circle  which  its  revolution 
described.  This  may  be  familiarly  illustrated  thus:  Place 
an  orange  on  the  top  of  a  hoop,  and  another  on  the  bottom, 
both  on  the  outside;  then  place  two  other  oranges  on 
each  side  of  the  hoop,  but  inside  of  the  rim.  The  hoop 
thus  divided  into  four  equal  parts  by  the  oranges,  repre- 
sents a  true  circle  ;  but  the  oranges,  it  will  be  observed, 
are  alternately  outside  and  inside  of  the  rim — consequently, 
in  revolving  around  the  hoop,  they  will  be  in  the  track  of 
a  circle,  but  in  point  of  fact,  they  describe  an  ellipse. 
This  was  a  very  important  and  interesting  invention,  and, 
although  founded  in  error,  had  the  effect  of  unlocking  the 
door  to  subsequent  research.  The  long-continued  inves- 
tigations of  Tycho  Brahe,  on  the  orbit  of  Mars,  attracted 
the  attention  of  Kepler,  and  the  data  accumulated  by  the 
former,  led  him  to  the  conception  that  the  varying 
motions  of  that  planet  could  be  explained  on  no  other 
hypothesis  than  that  of  its  revolving  around  the  sun  in 
the  form  of  an  ellipse — the  sun  itself  being  not  in  the 
centre,  but  in  one  of  the  two  foci  of  such  ellipse.  This 
proposition  assumed,  the  irregularity  of  its  velocity  had 
yet  to  be  determined.  After  an  amount  of  labor  which 
^few  persons  are  capable  of  appreciating,  Kepler  accom- 
plished the  task  by  demonstrating  that  the  quantity  of 


THE   ASTRONOMICAL   KEY   FOUND.  181 

space  between  the  radiating  vectors  of  a  planet,  and  the 
sun  around  which  it  moves,  is  always  in  proportion  to  its 
velocity.  If  a  wagon-wheel  were  elongated  or  compressed 
at  the  sides,  so  as  to  describe  an  ellipse  instead  of  a  circle, 
this  proposition  might  be  illustrated  thus:  The  hub,  or 
radiating  focus,  would  be  placed  on  a  line  drawn  through 
the  elongated  centre,  about  one-fourth  of  its  diameter 
either  to  the  right  or  the  left  of  the  true  centre.  From 
this  focus  or  hub,  we  would  extend  the  several  spokes, 
(the  radius  vectors  of  the  astronomers),  and  in  proportion 
as  their  length  increased,  they  would  be  drawn  closer 
together  at  the  tire,  or  circumference  line.  While  the 
space  between  the  short  spokes  would  thus  be  wide,  that 
between  the  long  spokes  would  be  proportionally  narrow, 
and  the  actual  quantity  of  space  or  superficial  area  re- 
mains the  same  in  all.  Now,  it  was  ascertained  that  the 
velocity  of  planets,  in  their  movements  around  their 
primaries,  varied  in  exact  proportion  to  the  radius  vectors 
constituting  their  orbitual  lines.  When  their  distance 
from  the  focus  increased,  their  velocity  was  reduced; 
when  they  approached  near,  it  was  accelerated.  This 
law  was  subsequently  extended  by  the  assumption,  first, 
that  all  the  planets  moved  by  similar  laws,  and  were  com- 
bined as  one  apparatus ;  and  second,  that  the  differences 
in  their  revolving  movements  depended  on  their  distance 
from  the  sun.  These  propositions  of  Kepler  subsequently 
formed  the  basis  for  the  discovery  of  the  law  of  universal 
gravitation.  In  the  mean  time,  however,  new  light  had 
been  shed  on  astronomy  by  the  discovery  of  the  telescope. 
The  merit  of  this  discovery  has  been  claimed  by  several 
individuals,  all  natives  of  Holland;  but  priority  seems  to 
belong  to  a  spectacle-maker  named  Hans  Lippershey,  or 
to  another  spectacle-maker  named  Metius,  both  cf  whom, 
in  the  year  1608,  offered  to  sell  them  to  the  government. 
The  telescope,  however,  for  several  years  after  its  inven- 


]82  THE   FOURTH   DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. 

tion,  was  only  applied  to  distant  terrestrial  objects.  In 
1609,  while  in  Venice.  Galileo  first  heard  of  the  instru- 
ment, and  from  the  description  given,  he  conjectured  at 
once  what  were  its  essential  features,  and  produced  one 
for  his  own  use  at  Padua.  By  its  aid,  (though  it  magni- 
fied but  seven  diameters),  he  was  the  first  man  on  the 
earth  to  peer  into  the  physical  mysteries  and  configuration 
of  the  heavenly  bodies.  He  discovered  the  satellites  of 
Jupiter,  the  varied  phases  of  Yenus,  a  multitude  of  stars 
in  the  Milky  Way,  invisible  to  the  naked  eye,  and  all  the 
mountains,  craters,  and  valleys  of  the  Moon.  The  tran- 
sition from  natural  to  telescopic  vision,  which  charac- 
terizes the  first  ten  years  of  the  seventeenth  century  (from 
Brahe  and  Kepler,  to  Galileo)  was  more  important  to 
astronomy  than  the  year  1492,  in  respect  to  our  knowledge 
of  terrestria^space — (geography).  "  It  not  only  infinitely 
extended  our  insight  into  creation,"  says  the  learned  Baron 
von  Humboldt,*  "  but  also,  besides  enriching  the  sphere 
of  human  ideas,  raised  mathematical  science  to  a  pre- 
viously unattained  splendor,  by  the  exposition  of  new  and 
complicated  problems.  Thus  the  increased  power  of  the 
organs  of  perception  reacts  on  the  world  of  thought,  to  the 
strengthening  of  intellectual  force,  and  the  ennoblement  of 
humanity.  To  the  telescope  alone  we  owe  the  discovery, 
in  less  than  two  and  a  halfj  centuries,  of  thirteen  new 
planets,  of  four  satellite  systems  (the  four  moons  of  Jupi- 
ter, eight  satellites  of  Saturn,  four,  perhaps  six  of  Uranus, 
and  one  of  Neptune),  of  the  sun's  spots  and  faculae,  the 
phases  of  Yenus,  the  form  and  height  of  the  lunar  moun- 
tains, the  wintery  polar  zones  of  Mars,  the  belts  of  Jupiter 
and  Saturn,  the  rings  of  the  latter,  the  interior  planetary 
comets  of  short  periods  of  revolution,  together  with  many 
other  phenomena  which  otherwise  escape  the  naked  eye. 

*   Cosmos,  vol.  iii,  p.  70. 


DISCOVERY   OF   THE   TELESCOPE.  183 

While  our  own  solar  system,  which  so  long  seemed  limited 
to  six  planets  and  one  moon,  has  been  enriched,  in  the 
space  of  two  hundred  and  forty  years,  with  the  discoveries 
to  which  we  have  alluded,  our  knowledge  regarding  suc- 
cessive strata  of  the  region  of  the  fixed  stars,  has,  unex- 
pectedly, been  still  more  increased.  Thousands  of  nebulas, 
stellar  swarms,  and  double  stars,  have  been  observed. 
The  changing  position  of  the  double  stars  which  revolve 
round  one  common  centre  of  gravity  has  proved,  like  the 
proper  motion  of  all  fixed  stars,  that  forces  of  gravitation 
are  operating  in  these  distant  regions  of  space,  as  in  our 
own  limited  mutually-disturbed  planetary  spheres.  Since 
Moria  and  Gascoigne  (not  indeed  till  twenty -five  or  thirty 
years  after  the  invention  of  the  telescope)  combined  op- 
tical arrangements  with  measuring  instruments,  we  have 
been  enabled  to  obtain  more  accurate  observations  of  the 
change  of  position  of  the  stars.  By  this  means  we  are 
enabled  to  calculate*  with  the  greatest  precision  every 
change  in  the  position  of  the  planetary  bodies,  the  ellipses 
of  aberration  of  the  fixed  stars  and  their  parallaxes,  and 
to  measure  the  relative  distances  of  the  double  stars,  even 
when  amounting  to  only  a  few  tenths  of  a  seconds-arc. 
The  astronomical  knowledge  of  the  solar  system  has 
gradually  extended  to  that  of  a  system  of  .the  universe." 
This  expansion  has  kept  pace  with  the  increased  develop- 
ment of  the  telescope  itself,  which,  from  the  instrument 
used  by  Galileo,  has  attained  a  space-penetrating  power, 
in  that  of  Lord  Rosse,  several  thousand  times  exceeding 
the  original  grasp.  The  Rosse  instrument  has  an  aper- 
ture six  feet  in  diameter,  and  a  tube  fifty-three  feet  in 
length.  It  is  suspended  between  two  towers  ;  and  many 
nebulae  and  other  objects,  previously  out  of  range  of  the 
telescope,  have  been  resolved  under  its  gigantic  eye. 
The  visual  and  sensuous  domain  of  man  has  thus  literally 
and  absolutely  been  extended  into  the  heavens,  and  his 


184  THE   FOURTH   DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. 

own  ideas  of  law,  order,  and  harmony,  derive  fresh  vigor 
from  an  understanding  of  those  which  govern  all  the 
•worlds  of  space. 

The  discoveries  which  Galileo  made  by  means  of  the 
telescope  necessarily  placed  him,  for  some  time,  at  the 
head  of  astronomical  science,  which,  under  the  laws  of 
Kepler,  now  began  at  once  to  assume  a  new  aspect.  But 
under  his  telescopic  observations,  Galileo  also  adduced 
several  very  important  philosophical  laws,  which  still 
further  accelerated  the  progress  of  our  knowledge  of  the 
planetary  universe.  He  laid  down,  as  a  fixed  law,  that 
every  body  receiving  an  impulse  to  move  in  space,  would 
move  forever  in  a  perfectly  straight  line,  provided  it  were 
not  interrupted  or  disturbed  by  any  other  force.  This 
law,  in  connection  with  that  previously  evolved  by  Kepler, 
viz.,  that  all  planets  invariably  moved  in  elliptic  curves, 
and  that  their  radius  vectors  pass  over  equal  areas  in 
equal  times,  led  the  illustrious  Newton  to  the  investiga- 
tion of  the  cause  of  motion,  and  the  reason  why  the 
planets,  in  their  orbitual  revolutions,  departed  from  a 
straight  line.  Up  to  this  point  it  was  conceded,  on  the 
basis  of  Kepler's  laws,  that  the  sun  attracted  the  planets 
to  it,  and  that  its  attractive  powers  varied  with  the  distance : 
or,  as  it  is  technically  expressed,  the  sun  attracts  or  de- 
flects the  planets  by  a  force  which  decreases  as  the  squares 
of  the  distance  increase.  The  square  of  a  number  is  that 
number  multiplied  by  itself,  consequently  the  square  of  2 
is  4,  that  of  3  is  9,  and  of  4 — 16  ;  if  the  sun,  therefore,  is 
twice  as  far  off  from  a  planet  at  one  time  as  it  is  at  another, 
its  power  of  attraction  is  four  times  less,  or  vice  versa. 
The  quantity  of  matter  of  the  sun  being  considerably 
greater  than  that  of  all  the  other  planets  combined,  and 
being  the  centre  of  the  system  to  which  they  belong,  and 
from  which  they  all  primarily  emanated,  they  have  an  in- 
herent and  constant  disposition  to  return  home.  Their 


KEPLER,    GALILEO,    AND   NEWTON.  185 

natural  movement,  therefore,  would  be  in  a  straight  line 
toward  the  centre  of  the  sun,  precisely  as  a  ball  in  the  air 
will  fall  toward  the  centre  of  the  earth ;  but  before  they 
reach  the  sun,  they  encounter  streams  of  opposing  force 
(if  I  may  use  the  word)  resulting  from  his  own  motions  on 
his  axis,  into  which  the  planets  are  borne,  and  then,  like 
a  cork  in  a  whirlpool,  are  whirled  around  his  circumfer- 
ence. These  solar  currents  or  zones  occur  at  various 
distances  from  the  sun,  and  may  be  compared  (for  illus- 
tration) to  the  successive  rinds  of  an  onion,  with  vast 
intermediate  spaces  between  them.  It  is*  in  these  zones 
that  planets  revolve.  Every  planet  describes  a  movement 
in  such  a  zone,  around  the  primary  orbs ;  but  while  their 
natural  impulse  is  always  to  fall  to  the  centre,  they  are 
constantly  prevented  and  thrown  off  by  the  swift  revolu- 
tion of  the  central  and  parent  body.  The  sun,  therefore, 
alternately  attracts  and  repels  the  planets  ;  and  it  is  this 
that  not  only  makes  them  revolve  around  him,  but  also 
compels  them  to  revolve  constantly  on  their  own  axes — 
the  periodic  times  of  such  revolution  increasing  with  their 
distance  from  the  sun. 

The  principle  of  universal  gravitation,  it  is  said,  was 
first  suggested  to  the  mind  of  Newton  by  the  observation 
of  falling  bodies.  When  he  saw  an  apple  in  his  orchard, 
falling  to  the  ground,  he  was  instructively  led  to  reflect  on 
the  cause  of  such  a  phenomenon.  Other  eyes  had  wit- 
nessed the  same  thing,  times  without  number.  Other 
eyes  observe  it  ftow,  every  day  ; — but  what  of  that  ?  Men 
have  eyes,  and  yet  cannot  always  see  ; — have  ears,  but  do 
not  always  hear.  For  many  thousand  years,  people 
had  eaten  fruits,  and  observed  them  fall,  ripe  and  luscious, 
into  the  lap  of  Autumn  ;  and  yet  it  required  many  thou- 
sand years,  and  many  millions  of  human  beings,  before 
one  could  be  found  sufficiently  god-like  to  fathom  so 
familiar  a  mystery,  and  to  place  it  on  the  broad  basis  of 


186  THE   FOURTH   DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. 

Universal  Law.  Newton  not  only  demonstrated  that  all 
bodies,  suspended  in  space,  evince  a  constant  tendencj  to 
fall  to  the  centre  of  the  earth;  but  that  all  the  planets 
were  in  like  manner  attracted  to  the  great  luminous  centre 
of  the  system.  While  the  amount  of  such  attraction 
varies  with  the  distance,  and  with  individual  planetary 
circumstances,  the  universality  of. its  operation  is  manifest 
in  all  nature  and  to  all  process  of  reason.  The  sun  and 
the  earth  both  attract  the  moon ;  but  while  the  latter  is 
compelled  to  revolve  .around  the  earth  in  consequence  of 
its  nearer  proximity,  the  other  is  compelled  to  drag  her 
•along  in  her  annual  journeys  around  the  sun.  It  is  thus 
with  all  the  other  planets  that  have  satellites  or  moons. 
They  are,  as  it  were,  servants  of  the  superior  body,  and 
perform  certain  functions  assigned  them  by  the  sun.  The 
moon  of  our  earth,  besides  furnishing  light  during  the 
night,  exercises  a  potential  influence  on  the  tides,  the 
"  seasons,  and  for  signs. "  Her  services  are  absolutely  indis- 
pensable ;  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  infer,  that  were  any 
accident  or  casuality  to  occur,  by  which  our  lunar  influence 
would  be  materially  impaired  or  destroyed,  the  earth 
would  again  relapse  into  that  half-chaotic  aspect  which 
characterized  it  during  the  earlier  Silurian  and  Meta- 
m  orphic  periods.  The  principle  of  universal  gravitation 
thus  extends  throughout  all  nature,  and  to  every  atom ; 
and  is  perhaps  the  parent  of  galvanic  attraction  and 
chemical  affinity,  since  it  always  evinces  a  disposition  to 
return  into  Unity — to  become  One — to  nestle  in  the  bosom 
of  God! 

"  The  immortal  author  of  the  Philosophies  Naturalis 
Principia  Mathematical  observes  the  no  less  immortal 
Alexander  von  Humboldt,  in  his  introduction  to  the  third 
volume  of  Cosmos ;  "  Newton  succeeded  in  embracing 
the  whole  uranological  portion  of  the  Cosmos  in  the  casual 
connection  of  its  phenomena,  by  the  assumption  of  one 


LAW   OF   UNIVERSAL  GRAVITATION,  187 

all-controlling,  fundamental,  moving  force.  He  first  ap- 
plied physical  astronomy  to  solve  a  great  problem  in 
mechanics,"  and  elevated  it  to  the  rank  of  a  mathematical 
science.  The  quantity  of  matter  in  every  celestial  body 
gives  the  amount  of  its  attracting  force ;  a  force  which 
acts  in  an  inverse  ratio  to  the  square  of  the  distance,  and 
determines  the  amount,  of  the  disturbances,  which  not 
only  the  planets,  but  all  the  bodies  in  celestial  space,  ex- 
ercise on  each  other.  But  the  Newtonian  theory  of  gravi- 
tation, so  worthy  of  our  admiration  from  its  simplicity 
and  generality,  is  not  limited  in  its  cosmical  application 
to  the  uranological  sphere,  but  comprises  also  telluric 
phenomena,  in  directions  not  yet  fully  investigated ;  it 
affords  the  clew  to  the  periodic  movements  in  the  ocean 
and  the  atmosphere,  and  solves  the  problems  of  capillarity, 
of  endosmosis,  and  of  many  chemical,  electro-magnetic, 
and  organic  processes.  Newton  even  distinguished  the 
attraction  of  masses,  as  manifested  in  the  motion  of  cos- 
mical bodies  and  in  the  phenomena  of  the  tides,  from 
molecular  attraction,  which  acts  at  infinitely  small  dis- 
tances and  in  the  closest  contact." 

" Bodies," says  Newton  himself,  "act  one  upon  another 
by  the  attraction  of  gravity,  magnetism,  and  electricity ; 
and  it  is  not  improbable  that  there  may  be  more  attractive 
powers  than  these.  How  these  attractions  may  be  per- 
formed, I  do  not  here  consider.  What  I  call  attraction 
may  be  performed  by  impulse,  or  by  some  other  means 
unknown  to  me.  I  use  that  word  here  to  signify  only  in 
general  any  force  by  which  bodies  tend  toward  one  another, 
whatsoever  be  the  cause."* 

The  seventeenth  century,  beginning  with  the  telescope, 
was  essentially  the  age  of  modern  astrononomical,  mathe- 
matical, and  philosophical  discovery.  Such  names  as 

*  Principia  Phil.  Nat.,  p.  351. 


188  THE    FOURTH   DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. 

Tycho  Bratie,  Kepler,  Galileo,  Bacon,  Huygens,  Newton, 
and  Leibnitz,  stand  forth  like  marble  statues,  or  like  the 
brilliant  stars  of  the  firmament  in  a  dark  and  cloudy  night. 
The  laws  which  govern  the  fall  of  bodies  were  understood 
for  the  first  time.  The  rotundity  of  the  earth — to  believe 
which  had  lately  been  a  high  crime  against  the  church 
(or  rather,  against  the  snapping,  barking  curs  that,  in  all 
ages,  have  guarded  its  portals,  and  prevented  "  miserable 
sinners"  from  entering !) — had  now  been  established. 
"  The  pressure  of  the  atmosphere — the  propagation  of 
light,  and  its  refraction  and  polarization  were  investigated. 
Mathematical  physics  were  created,  and  based  on  a  firm 
foundation.  The  invention  of  the  infinitesimal  calculus 
characterizes  the  close  of  the  century ;  and,  strengthened 
by  its  aid,  human  understanding  has  been  enabled,  during 
the  succeeding  century  and  a  half,  successfully  to  venture 
on  the  solution  of  the  problems  presented  by  the  pertur- 
bations of  the  heavenly  bodies ;  by  the  polarization  and 
interference  of  the  waves  of  light ;  by  the  radiation  of 
heat;  by  electro-magnetic  re-entering  currents;  by  vi- 
brating chords  and  surfaces ;  by  the  capillary  attraction 
of  narrow  tubes,  and  by  many  other  natural  phenomena."* 
In  addition  to  the  discoveries  of  astronomy,  geology  has 
established  the  antiquity  of  the  earth,  and  vastly  ex- 
tended our  knowledge  of  its  history  and  formation,  and 
the  cosmical  laws  which  govern  it. 

But  the  introduction  of  the  light  and  heat  of  the  sun, 
for  the  first  time  and  in  full  effulgence,  not  only  produced 
the  most  important  changes  on  the  dry  land,  but  also  in 
the  atmosphere  and  in  the  waters  of  the  sea.  The  ocean, 
it  is  known,  is  traversed  by  many  well-defined  and  pow- 
erful currents,  varying  in  temperature,  in  geographical 
direction,  and  in  volume,  precisely  as  the  great  rivers  and 

i 

*  Cosmos,  vol.  ii.,  p.  303. 


THE  CURRENTS  OF  THE  OCAAN.  189 

lakes  which  traverse  the  interior  dry  land.  The  Gulf 
Stream  is  one  of  the  most  stupendous  and  marvelous 
features  of  the  globe.  In  its  physical  aspect  and  rela- 
tions to  the  terrestrial  economy,  Lieut.  Maury  has  happily 
compared  it  to  a  vast  steam  heater,  such  as  are  now  used 
for  warming  houses  during  the  winter.  The  heating-fur- 
nace is  the  torrid  zone ;  the  great  boiling  caldrons  are 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  Caribbean  sea;  while  the 
Gulf  Stream  itself,  traveling  through  the  waters  of  the 
ocean  with  accelerated  speed,  and  hemmed  in  on  both 
sides  by  walls  of  cold  water,  constitutes  the  great  heat- 
conducting  pipe.  The  heat  of  the  torrid  zone  is  thus 
borne  off  and  diffused  en  route  to  the  grand  Banks  of  New- 
foundland, and  thence,  by  the  trade  winds,  to  the  opposite 
shores  of  Europe,  and  finally  to  the  polar  regions,  where 
the  cold  waters  and  vapors  are  again  returned  to  the 
caldron  to  take  the  place  of  the  out-going  hot  waters ; 
they  are  thus  again  heated,  and  then  again  sent  through 
the  conducting-pipe.  Not  only  is  the  climate  of  the 
ocean  thus  diversified,  so  as  to  adapt  it  for  the  countless 
creatures  that  inhabit  its  "dark  unfathomed  caves,"  but 
tliQ  drainage  of  the  land  upon  which  they  feed,  and  from 
which  many  of  them  elaborate  their  tiny  and  sculptured 
shells,  is  thus  distributed  and  diffused  ;  at  the  same  time 
that  the  vapors  are  caught  up  by  the  winds,  borne  over 
the  earth,  mingled  with  the  atmosphere,  and  thus  made  to 
moderate  the  rigor  of  the  climate  in  the  torrid,  the  tem- 
perate, and  the  frigid  zones.  "  The  quantity  of  heat  daily 
carried  off  by  the  Gulf  Stream  from  these  regions,  and* 
discharged  over  the  Atlantic,  is  sufficient  to  raise  moun- 
tains of  iron  from  zero  to  the  melting  point,  and  to  keep 
in  flow  from  them  a  molten  stream  of  metal  greater  in 
volume  than  the  waters  daily  discharged  from  the  Missis- 
sippi river.  Who,  therefore,  can  calculate  the  benign  influ- 
ence of  this  wonderful  current  upon  the  climate  of  the 


190  THE   FOURTH   DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. 

south  ?  In  the  pursuit  of  this  subject,  the  mind  is  led 
from  nature  up  to  the  Great  Architect  of  nature;  and 
what  mind  will  the  study  of-this  subject  not  fill  with  profita- 
ble emotions  ?  Unchanged  and  unchanging  alone,  of  all 
created  things,  the  ocean  is  the  great  emblem  of  its  ever- 
lasting Creator.  'He  treadeth  upon  the  waves  of  the  sea,' 
is  seen  in  the  wonders  of  the  deep.  Yea,  '  He  calleth  for  its 
waters,  and  poureth  them  out  upon  the  face  of  the  earth.'"* 
It  was  generally  supposed,  until  Prof.  Maury  proved  the 
contrary,  that  the  Gulf  Stream  was  caused  by  the  influx 
of  waters  from  the  Mississippi  and  other  rivers  emptying 
into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  backing  up  into  the  Carib- 
bean sea.  The  altitude  thus  attained,  it  was  thought,  was 
sufficient  to  produce  the  current,  as  a  river  descending  an 
inclined  plane ;  but  the  true  solution  of  the  origin,  as  sug- 
gested by  Maury,  must  be  sought  in  the  atmosphere — for 
the  Gulf  Stream,  in  volume,  is  greater  than  a  thousand 
Mississippi  rivers  combined,  and  the  supplies  from  such 
sources  would  be  wholly  inadequate.  The  atmosphere, 
aided  by  the  sun,  exerts  a  power  inconceivably  great ;  and 

tin  lifting  water  from  the  earth,  transporting  it  from  one 
place  to  another,  and  letting  it  down  again,  performs  the 
functions  of  a  great  steam  engine.  "  The  south  seas,  in 
all  their  vast  intertropical  extent,  are  the  boiler  for  it,  and 
the  northern  hemisphere  is  its  condenser.  What  is  the 
horse-power  of  the  Niagara,  falling  a  few  steps,  in  com- 
parison with  the  horse-power  that  is  required  to  lift  up  as 

fhigh  as  the  clouds  and  then  let  down  again,  all  the  water 
that  is  discharged  into  the  sea,  not  only  by  the  Mississippi 
or  the  Amazon,  but  by  all  the  other  rivers  in  the  world." 
In  speaking  of  the  currents  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  page  16*7,* 
Prof.  Maury  remarks  :  "  The  better  to  appreciate  the  ope- 
ration of  such  agencies  in  producing  currents  in  the  sea, 

*  Physical  Geography  of  the  Sea,  M.  F.  Maury,  LL.D.,  U.  S.  N. 


THE   GULF   STREAM.  191 

let  us  imagine  a  district  two  hundred  and  fifty-five  square 
miles  in  extent,  to  be  set  apart,  in  the  midst  of  the  Pacific 
ocean,  as  the  scene  of  operations  for  one  day.  We  must 
now  conceive  a  machine  capable  of  pumping  up,  in  the 
twenty-four  hours,  all  the  water  to  the  depth  of  one  mile 
in  this  district.  The  machine  must  not  only  pump  up  and 
bear  off  this  immense  quantity  of  water,  but  it  must  dis- 
charge it  again  into  the  sea,  on  the  same  day,  but  at  some 
other  place.  Now  here  is  a  force  for  creating  currents 
that  is  equivalent  in  its  results  to  the  effects  that  would  be 
produced  by  bailing  up,  in  twenty-four  hours,  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty-five  cubic  miles  of  water  from  one  part  of 
the  Pacific  ocean,  and  emptying  it  out  again  upon  another 
part.  The  currents  that  would  be  created  by  such  an 
operation  would  overwhelm  navigation  and  desolate  the 
sea ;  and,  happily  for  the  human  race,  the  great  atmos- 
pherical machine  which  actually  does  perform,  every  day, 
on  the  average,  all  this  lifting  up,  transporting,  and  letting 
down  of  water  upon  the  face  of  the  grand  ocean,  does  not 
confine  itself  to  an  area  of  two  hundred  and  fifty-five 
square  miles,  but  to  an  area  three  hundred  thousand  times 
as  great ;  yet,  nevertheless,  the  same  quantity  of  water  is 
kept  in  motion,  and  the  currents,  in  the  aggregate,  trans- 
port as  much  water  to  restore  the  equilibrium  as  they 
would  have  do  were  all  the  disturbance  to  take  place  upon 
our  hypothetical  area  of  one  mile  deep  over  the  space  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty-five  square  miles.  Now,  when  we 
come  to  recollect  that  evaporation  is  lifting  up,  that  the 
winds  are  transporting,  and  that  the  clouds  are  letting 
down,  every  day,  actually  such  a  body  of  water,  we  are 
reminded  that  it  is  done  by  little  and  little  at  a  place,  and 
by  hair's  .breadths  at  a  time,  not  by  parallelopipedons  one 
mile  thick — that  the  evaporation  is  most  rapid  and  the 
rains  most  copious,  not  always  at  the  same  place,  but  now 
here,  now  there." 
13 


192  THE  FOURTH  DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. 

But  the  currents  of  the  sea,  as  well  as  the  varying  tem- 
perature of  aqueous  belts  of  climate,  are  also  powerfully 
influenced  by  the  influx  of  fresh  w&ter  from  inland  lakes 
and  rivers.  The  water  thus  drained  into  the  ocean,  as 
the  common  sewer  of  the  dry  land,  is  of  course  charged 
with  every  variety  of  mineral,  vegetable,  and  animal  mat- 
ter. These  substances,  being  held  in  suspension  and  so- 
lution, constitute  the  food  of  the  fauna  and  flora  of  the 
sea,  as  well  as  affording  the  material  from  which  many  of 
them  build  their  sculptured  houses,  and  elaborate  their 
weapons  of  warfare.  These  creatures,  moreover,  are  as 
much  dependent  on  the  laws  of  climate,  and  the  arbitrary 
failure  of  supplies  of  food,  as  are  those  of  terra  firma. 
But  after  the  solid  substances  are  extracted  from  the 
fresh  water ;  after  they  have  been  absorbed  by  millions  of 
polyps  and  molluscan  animals,  and  secreted  in  vast  coral 
reefs  or  beds  of  shells  and  sponges,  the  water  becomes  a 
thin  lixiviate  or  ordinary  sea- water.  The  thin  water,  by 
the  law  of  gravitation,  will  be  displaced  by  the  heavier 
water,  and  as  the  latter  sinks,  the  other  is  lifted  up  by  the 
atmosphere  to  be  returned  to  the  land  in  genial  dews  and 
rains.  By  this  process,  not  only  is  the  solid  contents, 
formerly  held  in  suspension  or  solution  by  the  water,  left 
behind,  but  also  the  salt  of  the  sea  with  which  it  afterward 
becomes  united.  The  water  raised  from  the  ocean  by  the 
clouds  is  neither  salt  water  nor  sedimentary — it  is  thin 
and  attenuated  rain-water,  and,  by  the  process  it  has  un- 
dergone in  the  ocean,  is  again  well  adapted  for  dissolving 
the  particles  of  earth,  and  of  nourishing  and  invigorating 
vegetation,  and  once  more  emptying  its  loads  of  food  for 
the  animals  of  the  ocean  1  The  constant  displacement  of 
water  in  the  ocean,  as  Prof.  Maury  has  showri,  is  one  of 
the  primary  causes  which  give  motion  to  its  waters ;  but, 
in  addition  to  the  mere  displacement,  the  movement  is 
accelerated  by  the  temporary  changes  going  on  in  the 


CURRENTS   OP   TEE   ATMOSPHERE.  193 

density  and  specific  gravity  of  the  waters— 'for  as  the 
atmosphere  abstracts  only  the  water,  and  leaves  the  sedi- 
ment and  the  salt  behind,  it  follows  that  the  weight  of  the 
waters,  for  the  time  being,  is  increased ;  while  their  den- 
sity would  form  a  natural  wall  to  inclose  streams  of  water 
of  less  gravity,  less  density,  and  warmer  temperature. 
Thus,  reciprocal  and  corresponding  currents  are  main- 
tained in  the  sea  and  in  the  air,  the  disarrangement  of 
which  would  involve  the  lives  of  all  the  inhabitants  of 
both  elements. 

The  leapt  confusion  but  in  one,  and  not  all 
That  system  only,  but  the  whole  must  fall. 

Well  has  Prof.  Maury  shown,  in  his  admirable  investi- 
gations of  the  physical  wonders  of  the  sea  and  air,  that 
the  "wind  goeth  toward  the  south,  and  turneth  about 
unto  the  north  ;  it  whirleth  about  continually,  and  the 
wind  returnelh  again  according  to  his  circuits."  The 
same  may  be  said  of  the  sea ;  whose  waters  whirl  about 
continually,  but  invariably  return  again  according  to  their 
circuits.  If,  indeed,  the  proportions,  density,  and  gravity 
of  earth,  sea,  and  air  were  not  fixed  upon  a  basis  of  recip- 
rocal and  harmonious  action,  why  should  we  be  told  that 
the  Creator  "  measured  the  waters  in  the  hollow  of  his 
hand,  and  comprehended  the  dust  in  a  measure,  and 
weighed  the  mountains  in  scales,  and  the  hills  in  a 
balance." 

^NTow,  in  taking  a  retrospective  glance  at  the  Third 
Day,  during  which  the  coal  was  produced  as  its  most 
prominent  feature,  who  would  venture  to  assert  that  the 
complicated  and  nicely- adjusted  laws  of  aqueous  and 
atmospheric  currents,  here  indicated,  were  then  in  full 
force  ?  If,  indeed,  they  were  in  force  during  the  Third 
Day,  why  not  also  in  the  Second,  or  even  the  First,  when 


194  THE   FOURTH   DAY — ASTRO- GEOLOGICAL. 

all  was  comparative  unshaped  nebulosity  or  chaus  ?  On 
the  Second  Day,  there  was  no  land  exposed  whatever. 
All  was  yet  under  the  sea.  On  the  Third  Day,  the  land 
had  indeed  emerged,  but  it  was  yet  miry  and  swampy. 
There  were  no  mountains,  and  consequently  there  could 
have  been  no  such  rivers  as  the  Mississippi,  the  St.  Law- 
rence, the  Amazon,  or  the  Nile.  There  were  rivers  and 
broad  lakes ;  but  they  were  rather  arms  of  the  sea  than 
great  inland  streams  two  or  three  thousand  miles  in 
length.  There  were  rivers  and  lakes — but  they  were 
rather  ponds  resulting  from  the  drainage  of  the  marshes 
and  swamps  of  the  land,  than  rivers  deriving  their  sup- 
plies from  the  fountains  in  the  bowels  and  snow-capped 
peaks  of  lofty  mountains.  There  were  rivers,  I  repeat ; — 
but  they  were  rivers  left  behind  to  carve  out  their  passage 
to  the  sea  as  the  land  .itself  arose  ;  they  were  not  rivers 
dependent  on  rain-clouds  and  subterraneous  caverns  for 
their  supplies.  The  exposed  land  then  did  not  comprise 
one-twentieth  part  of  the  land  now  elevated  above  the 
ocean. 

But  that  no  such  system  of  air  and  ocean  currents  pre- 
vailed during  the  Third  Day,  is  overwhelmingly  manifest 
in  the  fact  that  a  climate  prevailed  which  was  almost  uni- 
~form  all  over  the  face  of  the  earth.  The  coal  basins  then 
produced  are  now  found  in  every  portion  of  the  globe,  in 
the  hottest  as  well  as  in  the  coldest  and  most  temperate 
zones.  Coal  exists  everywhere,  in  irregular  patches  ;  and 
how  could  it  have  been  thus  diffused  if  the  climate  had 
been  diversified  by  currents  of  air  and  ocean,  as  we  now 
find  it  ?  The  plants  which  produced  the  coal  required 
heat — where  could  they  now  find  it  in  the  frigid  zone  ? 
Would  the  Stigmaria,  the  Calamite,  the  Sigillaria,  Lepi- 
dodendria,  and  the  arborescent  Pern  grow  in  unsurpassed 
luxuriance  on  the  icy  slopes  or  the  towering  glaciers  of 


CLIMATE    OF   THE   THIRD   DAY   CHANuED.  195 

the  North  pole  ?     Are  these  cold  and  inhospitable  regions 
the  habitats  of  vegetation  ?     Yet,  coal  is  found  there  ! 

If,  then,  the  climate  were  nearly  uniform  during  the 
coal  period,  it  follows  that  no  such  currents  of  air  and 
ocean  as  give  equilibrium  to  our  present  terrestrial  econ- 
omy could  then  have  existed ;  and  as  it  is  indisputable 
that  these  currents  originate  and  perform  their  functions 
through  the  instrumentality  of  the  sun,  we  are  bound  to 
conclude  that,  up  to  that  time,  the  sun  had  not  yet  cast 
his  rays  upon  the  earth  in  the  manner  that  he  now  does  ; 
but  that  the  atmosphere  itself  was  humid  and  vapory,  and 
that  it  only  attained  its  transparency  and  diversity  of 
temperature  after  the  sun  had  dispelled  the  mists  of  the 
marshy  plains,  and  set  in  motion  the  currents  of  the  sea 
and  air.  And,  in  the  absence  of  the  sun,  how  could  a 
system  of  storms  and  rains,  and  of  land  drainage  and 
ocean  currents,  be  maintained  ?  And  where  was  the  ne- 
cessity for  it,  when  the  land,  expelling  heat  itself,  was 
constantly  giving  rise  to  fogs,  which  fed  the  vegetation 
with  moisture  ?  There  was  no  rain,  because  there  was 
yet  no  necessity  for  "it ; — there  was  no  direct  action  of  the 
sun,  because  the  radiated  heat  of  the  earth  sufficed.  Thus 
vegetation  grew,  as  under  the  stimulus  of  a  prolonged 
spring ;  until  finally,  toward  the  close  of  the  Third  Day, 
the  Devonian  mountains  arose — the  vapors  were  dispelled 
— fresh  or  sedimentary  waters  poured  into  the  ocean — 
continental  rivers  began  to  flow,  and,  as  a  consequence, 
the  sun  illumined  the  atmosphere,  and  the  present  phe- 
nomena were  set  in  motion !  This  movement  was  aided 
by  volcanic  action  occurring  during  the  day  we  are  now 
considering.  The  whole  aspect  and  qualities  of  the  pre- 
vious era  were  changed — the  climate  was  at  once  refrige- 
rated by  the  elevation  of  the  mountains  containing  the 
coal,  such  as  the  Alleghanies ;  and  it  was  then,  for  the 
first  time,  that  the  rays  of  the  sun  pierced  the  murky 


196  THE   FOURTH   DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. 

atmosphere,  and  awakened  new  life  in  the  sea,  air,  and 
land! 

That  Moses,  in  introducing  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars 
on  the  Fourth  Day,  contemplated  a  radical  change  of  the 
climate,  so  as  to  inaugurate  the  scenes  that  were  to  follow 
in  the  subsequent  days,  is  apparent  from  the  fact  that,  in 
the  Fifth  Day,  immediately  succeeding,  he  orders  the  seas 
to  bring  forth  abundantly  the  moving  creatures  that  have 
life,  including  whales,  and  birds  that  might  fly  in  the  air. 
The  atmosphere  and  circumstances  of  the  earth,  during 
the  Third  Day,  were  wholly  unfavorable  to  the  existence 
of  winged  animals,  or  to  air-breathers  of  any  kind ;  while, 
in  the  absence  of  belts  of  climate  in  the  sea,  it  was  utterly 
impossible  for  animals  such  as  now  fill  its  waters  to  exist 
to  any  considerable  extent.  The  few  specimens  of  animals 
afforded  by  the  Silurian  and  Devonian  rocks  sufficiently 
indicate  the  fact  that  no  great  currents  traversed  the  seas 
of  those  epochs,  and  that,  to  produce  them  abundantly 
and  in  diversified  species  and  genera,  it  was  absolutely 
requisite  to  create  currents  of  hot  and  cold  water,  shallow 
and  deep  basins,  and  drainage  of  animal,  vegetable,  and 
mineral  debris  from  the  land.  The  climate,  therefore,  had 
to  be  changed;  and  this  change  was  originated  by  the 
elevation  of  the  coal  basins,  and  the  immediate  appear- 
ance of  the  sun's  beams. 

There  are  few  persons  on  the  earth  that  may  be  said  to 
be  wholly  insensible  to  its  beauties,  or  the  familiar  work- 
ing of  its  physical  laws,  as  exemplified  in  everyday  life. 
Poets  are  filled  with  emotion  on  beholding  a  rocky  preci- 
pice or  a  frowning  mountain  pass  ;  they  dwell  with  ecstasy 
over  a  landscape,  and  point  out  secret  beauties  in  every 
tree,  shrub,  or  flower ;  they  apostrophize  teeming  valleys, 
with  their  sloping  banks  of  green  verdure,  and  their 
streams  glistening  through  vistas  of  bending  foliage  like 
sheets  of  burnished  silver.  Travelers  write  books  descrip- 


WONDERS   OF    AIR   AND   SEA.  197 

tive  of  their  journeyings,  in  which  the  familiar  and  char- 
acteristic scenery  of  the  earth  is  depicted  in  every  possible 
style  and  form.  The  varied  zones  of  climate  and  physical 
configuration,  aided  by  the  operations  of  man,  constantly 
open  to  view  new  scenes,  and  present  the  earth  in  new 
aspects.  The  subject,  therefore,  is  sufficiently  compre- 
hensive and  exhaustless ; — yet,  while  so  much  has  been 
written  and  painted  of  the  earth,  is  it  not  singular  that  so 
little  has  been  said,  and  that,  consequently,  so  little  is 
known,  of  the  sea  and  air  ?  Look  down  into  the  depths 
of  the  ocean ; — look  at  its  wondrous  caverns,  its  huge 
mountains,  its  high  rocky  steeples,  its  vast  plateaux  of 
coral  reefs,  its  forests  of  coral  trees,  pendant  with  silicious 
and  calcareous  jewels !  Behold  its  swarms  of  animals — 
its  minute  polyps  and  its  enormous  whales  1  Observe  its 
rivers  and  currents,  moving  in  every  direction,  but  in  un- 
disturbed harmony  with  each  other  !  Observe  the  shades  of 
human  character  impressed  upon  its  fishes,  its  crustaceous, 
and  its  sauroid  creatures ; — see  how  they  are  armed  for 
battle — how  the  weak  elude  the  strong — how  the  strong 
prey  upon  the  weak  I  Observe  their  social  habits,  their 
domestic  instincts,  their  mechanical  pursuits  !  Then  con- 
sider the  magnitude  and  mechanism  of  the  ocean  itself ! 
The  mind  becomes  bewildered  and  overpowered  with  a 
contemplation  of  the  vast  field.  It  is,  as  it  were,  looking 
down  upon  a  new  world — that  which  we  inhabit,  were  it 
exposed  to  our  view  for  the  first  time,  could  hardly  excite 
emotions  more  profound  or  reverential.  We  turn  tongue- 
tied  from  the  view,  to  silently  adore  1 

It  has  been  computed  that  the  salts  of  the  sea,  were 
they  precipitated,  and  spread  over  the  northern  half  of  our 
continent,  would  make  a  stratum  one  mile  thick!  "What 
force,"  asks  Lieut.  Maury,  "  could  move  such  a  mass  of 
matter  on  the  dry  land  ?  Yet  the  machinery  of  the  ocean, 
of  which  it  forms  a  part,  is  so  wisely,  marvelously,  and 


108  THE   FOURTH   DAY — ASTRO- GEOLOGICAL. 

wonderfully  compensated,  that  the  most  gentle  breeze  that 
plays  on  its  bosom,  the  tiniest  insect  that  secretes  solid 
matter  for  its  sea-shell,  is  capable  of  putting  it  instantly 
in  motion  !"  Yet  the  contrivances  of  man,  with  all  the 
steam-engines  of  the  earth,  could  hardly  move  a  stratum 
a  foot  thick,  if  exposed  on  a  heap,  during  a  thousand 
years  I 

Nor  is  the  atmosphere  less  interesting,  though  still  less 
of  it  is  popularly  known.  It  has  a  system  of  interior, 
local,  and  general  currents  precisely  similar  to  that  of  the 
sea.  It  is  at  once  the  source  and  protection  of  life — with- 
out it,  no  organized  beings  could  exist.  We  cannot  see, 
though  we  constantly  feel  its  presence.  It  presses  on  us 
with  a  load  of  fifteen  pounds  on  every  square  inch  of 
surface  of  our  bodies,  or  from  seventy  to  one  hundred  tons 
in  all, — yet  we  cannot  realize  a  sense  of  its  weight. 
"  Softer  than  the  softest  down — more  impalpable  than  the 
finest  gossamer — it  leaves  the  cobweb  undisturbed,  and 
scarcely  stirs  the  lightest  flower  that  feeds  on  the  dew  it 
supplies ;  yet  it  bears  the  fleets  of  nations  on  its  wings 
around  the  world,  and  crushes  the  most  refractory  sub- 
stances with  its  weight.  It  is  sufficient,  when  in  motion, 
to  level  the  most  stately  forests  and  stable  buildings  with 
the  earth — to  raise  the  waters  of  the  ocean  into  ridges 
like  mountains,  and  dash  the  strongest  ships  to  pieces  like 
toys.  It  warms  and  cools  by  turns  the  earth  and  the 
living  creatures  that  inhabit  it.  It  draws  up  vapors  from 
the  sea  and  land,  and  again  throws  them  down  in  rain  or 
dew.  It  bends  the  rays  of  the  sun  from  their  paths,  to 
give  us  the  twilight  of  evening  and  of  dawn  ;  it  disperses 
and  refracts  their  various  tints,  to  beautify  the  approach 
and  the  retreat  of  the  orb  of  day.  But  for  it,  sunshine 
would  burst  on  us  and  fail  us  at  once,  and  at  once  remove 
us  from  midnight  darkness  to  the  blaze  of  the  noon." 

While  so  little  is  known  of  the  wonders  of  the  air  and 


SCIENCE   OF   THE   BIBLE.  199 

sea,  it  is  a  matter  of  astonishment  to  find  that,  whenever 
the  Bible  has  occasion  to  allude  to  either  element,  it  does 
so  with  a  perfect  knowledge  of  all  their  laws  and  charac- 
teristics. Things  that  our  wise  men  have  been  for  ages 
attempting  to  solve,  are  here  frequently  alluded  to  as  facts 
understood,  and  hence  the  unceasing  laudation  of  all  God's 
works  in  the  holy  volume.  "But  where  shall  wisdom  be 
found,"  exclaims  the  perfect  man  of  Uz,  "  and  where  is 
the  place  of  understanding?  The  depth  saith,  It  is  not 
in  me ;  and  the  sea  saith,  It  is  not  with  me.  It  cannot 
be  gotten  for  gold,  neither  shall  silver  be  weighed  for  the 
price  thereof.  No  mention  shall  be  made  of  coral  or  of 
pearls,  for  the  price  of  wisdom  is  above  rubies.  Whence, 
then,  cometh  wisdom  ?  Destruction  and  Death  say,  We 
have  heard  the  fame  thereof  with  our  ears.  God  under- 
standeth  the  way  thereof,  and  he  knoweth  the  place 
thereof;  for  he  looketh  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  seeth 
under  the  whole  heaven,  to  make  the  weight  of  the  winds; 
and  Jie  weigheth  the  waters  by  a  measure.  When  he  made 
a  decree  for  the  rain,  and  a  way  for  the  lightning  of  the 
thunder ;  then  did  he  see  it,  and  declare  it ;  he .  prepared 
it,  yea,  and  searched  it  out." 

"  When  the  pump-maker  came  to  ask  Galileo  to  explain 
how  it  was  that  his  pump  would  not  lift  water  higher  than 
thirty-two  feet,  the  philosopher  thought,  but  was  afraid 
to  say,  it  was  owing  to  the  'weight  of  the  winds ;'  and 
although  the  fact  that  the  air  has  weight  is  here  distinctly 
announced,  philosophers  never  recognized  the  fact  until 
within,  comparatively,  a  recent  period,  and  then  it  was 
proclaimed  as  a  great  discovery ;/"* 

It  has  required  more  than  five  thousand  years  of  hard 
study  and  patient  investigation  of  the  wisest  men  of 
different  nations  and  periods,  to  elaborate  the  great  truths 

*  Lieut.  Maury — Physical  Geography  of  the  Sea. 


200  THE   FOURTH   DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL 

of  Nature  which  we  have  thus  glanced  at ;  and  yet  every 
one  of  them  is  plainly  anticipated  in  the  prophetic  vision 
of  Moses.  Geology  was  then  utterly  unknown  as  a 
science  ;  was  utterly  unknown  even  to  the  philosophic 
Greeks;  was  utterly  unknown  until  man  became  a  practi- 
cal miner,  and  learned  (by  a  simple  contrivance)  to  raise 
water  out  of  the  pits  he  made  in  the  earth,  as  he  penetrated 
into  its  bowels.  Astronomy  had  not  been  arranged  even 
into  an  imperfect  system  until  the  time  of  Ptolemy.  The 
fragmentary  conjectures  of  previous  ages  had  no  solid 
basis  for  support ;  while  the  premises  of  Ptolemy  having 
been  founded  in  absolute  error,  of  course  all  his  conclu- 
sions were  necessarily  fallacious.  And  yet  we  see  Moses, 
in  the  earliest  epoch  of  mankind,  without  geological  ex- 
perience or  telescopic  aid,  unfolding  the  whole  scheme 
and  process  of  creation,  from  stage  to  stage.  His  descrip- 
tion stands  the  test  of  time.  All  the  schemes  of  the  wise 
men  of  old,  fade  away  like  the  fantastic  visions  of  a  dream ; 
but  Moses  looms  up  unchanged  and  unchangeable  ;  and 
every  new  discovery  only  adds  lustre  to  the  brightness  and 
beauty  of  his  narrative.  Every  thought  embodies  a 
philosophical  law — every  word  carries  with  it  a  volume  of 
significant  meaning,  the  key  to  which  is  found  in  the 
rocks,  and  the  elements,  and  the  creatures  constituting  the 
earth  itself.  In  vain  has  reasoning  man  set  up  his  subtle 
barriers  against  it — in  vain  all  his  dark  innuendos,  his 
pseudo-logic,  and  his  nicely-wrought  theories  !  If  they , 
do  not  lead  him  back  subdued  and  repentant  and  wiser 
to  the  fountain  of  all  truth,  they  sink  into  the  earth  with 
his  forgotten  bones  ;  while  the  holy  record,  deriving  new 
strength  with  every  new  discovery,  and  every  progressive 
step  in  intelligence,  still  goes  on  "  conquering  and  to 
conquer."  "Beware,"  says  the  eloquent  Paul  to  the 
Colossians,  "Beware  lest  any  man  spoil  you  through 
philosophy  and  vain  deceit,  after  the  tradition  of  men, 


THE   BIBLE   AND   NATURAL   SCIENCE.  201 

after  the  rudiments  of  the  world,  and  not  after  Christ. "  In 
the  6th  chapter  of  his  second  letter  to  Timothy,  he  exclaims  : 
"  0  Timothy,  keep  that  which  is  committed  to  thy  trust, 
avoiding  profane  and  vain  babblings,  and  oppositions  of 
science,  falsely  so  called — which  some  professing,  have 
erred  concerning  the  faith.  Grace  be  with  thee."  Again, 
in  his  second  epistle  to  his  brethren  at  Corinth,  he  ex- 
claims with  an  eloquence  which  nothing  less  than  the 
spirit  of  heaven  could  inspire :  "  Howbeit  we  speak  wisdom 
among  them  that  are  perfect ;  yet  not  the  wisdom  of  this 
world,  nor  of  the  princes  of  this  world,  that  come  to 
nought :  But  we  speak  the  wisdom  of  God  in  a  mystery, 
even  the  hidden  wisdom  which  God  ordained  before  the 
i world  unto  our  glory;  which  none  of  the  princes  of  this 
world  knew  :  for  had  they  known  it,  they  would  not  have 
crucified  the  Lord  of  glory.  But  as  it  is  written,  eye 
hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither  have  entered  into 
the  heart  of  man,  the  things  which  God  hath  prepared  for 
them  that  love  him.  But  God  hath  revealed  them  unto 
us  by  his  Spirit ;  for  the  Spirit  searcheth  all  things,  yea, 
the  deep  things  of  God  !  For  what  man  knoweth  the 
things  of  a  man,  save  the  spirit  of  man  which  is  in  him  ? 
Even  so  the  things  of  God  knoweth  no  man,  but  the 
spirit  of  God  !  Now,  we  have  received,  not  the  spirit  of 
the  world,  but  the  spirit  which  is  of  God;  that  we  might 
know  the  things  that  are  freely  given  to  us  of  God  ;  and 
which  things  also  we  speak,  not  in  the  words  which  man's 
wisdom  teacheth,  but  which  the  Holy  Ghost  teacheth : 
comparing  spiritual  things  with  spiritual.  But  the  natu- 
ral man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  spirit  of  God,  for 
they  are  foolishness  unto  him  ;  neither  can  he  know  them, 
because  they  are  spiritually  discerned." 

While  the  Bible  was  not  written  to  promulgate  a  system 
of  science,  it  is,  in  fact,  the  only  book  ever  written  that 
caii  stand  the  tests  of  scientific  truths.  The  Yeda,  the 


202  THE   FOURTH   DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. 

Shaster,  and  the  Koran,  can  stand  no  such  tests,  but  the 
Bible  can ;  and  even  where  it  seems  most  beset  with 
difficulty  and  mystery,  those  passages,  by  modern  investi- 
gation, shine  with  brilliant  light.  "  If,  indeed,"  says  Dr. 
Gumming,  in  an  address  before  the  London  Bible  Society, 
"  if  the  Bible  had  been  written  by  mere  human  hands,  they 
might  have  indicated,  here  and  there,  something  like  a 
system  of  science.  It  speaks  of  flowers  and  trees,  from 
the  hyssop  on  the  wall,  to  the  cedar  of  Lebanon ;  but 
there  is  not  a  hint  of  a  system  of  botany.  It  speaks  of 
stars,  and  sun,  and  moon  ;  but  not  a  hint  of  a  system  of 
astronomy."  And  so,  too,  it  may  be  added,  it  speaks  of 
nearly  every  animal  on  the  earth ;  but  not  a  hint  of  a 
system  of  zoology.  The  investigator  of  Natural  History 
is  thus  unimpeded  in  his  work  ;  but  when  the  Bible  does 
make  a  statement  of  fact,  which  involves  the  truths  of 
science,  it  invariably  turns  out  that  the  Bible  is  correct, 
and  that  the  science  was  false.  There  are  many  examples 
of  this,  some  of  which  have  already  been  adverted  to, 
while  others  remain  to  be  noticed  hereafter.  Job,  for  ex- 
ample, speaks  of  himself  as  standing  on  the  circle  of  the 
earth ;  while  Isaiah  speaks  of  the  circle  of  the  sea.  It  is  a 
singular  fact  that  the  rotundity  of  the  earth  had  not  been 
established  until  the  time  of  Newton  ;  and  that,  in  conse- 
quence of  his  inability  to  understand,  or  rather  to  measure 
its  true  form,  he  was  unable  to  promulgate  his  discovery 
of  the  law  of  universal  gravitation,  which  was  withheld 
seven  years  longer  from  the  world  in  consequence  of  his 
inability  to  satisfactorily  demonstrate  it,  owing  to  this 
very  cause.  Even  the  Church  of  Rome,  notwithstanding 
these  expressions  of  the  Bible,  had  long  made  it  heresy 
for  any  one  to  believe  that  the  surface  of  the  earth  was 
other  than  i*  flat  plain,  or  that  the  stars  were  not  really 
riveted  to  the  ethereal  vault — hence  the  origin  of  the  term 
"fixed  stars."  "Hast  thou  an  arm  like  God,  or  canst 


SCIENCE   OF   THE   BIBLE.  203 

thou  thunder  with  a  voice  like  him  ?  Gird  up  thy  loins 
and  declare  !  Canst  thou  bind  the  sweet  influences  of 
the  Pleiades,  or  loosen  the  bands  of  Orion  ?  Canst  thou 
bring  forth  Maggaroth  in  his  season,  or  bind  Arcturus 
with  his  stars  ?"  These  words  of  Job  were  long  a  mystery. 
What  are  the  sweet  influences  of  the  Pleiades  ?  Astro- 
nomy tells  us  that  the  stars,  the  sun,  the  moon,  and 
the  earth,  with  their  leading  satellites,  constitute  one 
group  which  revolves  round  another  central  sun,  and  that 
central  sun  is  but  one  of  the  mysterious  Pleiades.  The 
Bible  thus  indicates  what  astronomers,  with  the  aid  of  the 
telescope,  have  only  lately  realized — that  there  are  other 
systems  of  worlds  planted  in  space,  besides  our  own,  and 
that  these  revolve  around  central  suns  still  greater  and 
grander  than  our  own.  Nothing  short  of  an  inspired 
conception  of  the  Almighty  Creator  and  his  works,  could 
have  enabled  the  promulgators  of  his  divine  word  to  deal 
in  cosmical  truths  like  these — truths  so  far  beyond  the 
ordinary  range  of  the  human  understanding. 

The  profound  and  erudite  Alexander  von  Humboldt,  in 
describing  the  literature  of  the  Hebrews,  and  especially 
their  poetry  and  descriptions  of  Nature,  remarks  ofHhe 
104th  Psalm,  that  it  almost  represents,  of  itself,  "the  image 
of  the  whole  cosmos."  "  Who  coverest  thyself  with  light 
as  with  a  garment :  who  stretchest  out  the  heavens  like  a 
curtain :  who  layeth  the  beams  of  his  chambers  in  the 
waters :  who  maketh  the  clouds  his  chariot :  who  walketh 
upon  the  wings  of  the  wind :  who  laid  the  foundations  of 
the  earth,  that  it  should  not  be  removed  forever !  He 
sendeth  the  springs  into  the  valleys,  which  run  among  the 
hills.  They  give  drink  to  every  beast  of  the  field :  the 
wild  asses  quench  their  thirst.  By  them  shall  the  fowls 
of  the  heaven  have  their  habitation,  which  sing  among  the 
'branches.  He  causeth  the  grass  to  grow  for  the  cattle,  and 
herb  for  the  service  of  man :  that  he  may  bring  forth  fruit 


204  THE  FOURTH  DAY — ASTRO-GEOLOGICAL. 

out  of  the  earth  :  and  wine  that  maketh  glad  the  heart  of 
man,  and  oil  to  make  his  face  shine,  and  bread  which 
strengthen eth  man's  heart.  The  trees  of  the  Lord  are  full 
of  sap ;  the  cedars  of  Lebanon  which  he  hath  planted ; 
where  the  birds  make  their  nests  :  as  for  the  stork,  the  fir 
trees  are  her  houses."  "  The  great  and  wide  sea"  is  then 
described,  "  wherein  are  things  creeping  innumerable,  both 
small  and  great  beasts.  There  go  the  ships :  there  is  that 
leviathan,  whom  thou  hast  made  to  play  therein."  "The 
picture  of  the  heavenly  bodies,"  says  Humboldt,  "renders 
this  picture  complete.  'He  appointed  the  moon  for  sea- 
sons: the  sun  knoweth  his  going  down.  Thou  makest 
darkness,  and  it  is  night ;  wherein  all  the  beasts  of  the 
forests  do  creep  forth.  The  young  lions  roar  after  their 
prey,  and  seek  their  meat  from  God.  The  sun  ariseth, 
they  gather  themselves  together,  and  lay  them  down  in 
their  dens.  Man  goeth  forth  unto  his  work,  and  to  his 
labor  unto  the  evening.'" 

"We  are  astonished  to  find,"  says  the  venerable  Hum- 
boldt, "  in  a  lyrical  poem  of  such  a  limited  compass,  the 
whole  universe — the  heavens  and  the  earth — sketched  in  a 
fetu  bold  touches!  The  calm  and  toilsome  labor  of  man, 
from  the  rising  of  the  sun  to  the  setting  of  the  same, 
when  his  daily  work  is  done,  is  here  contrasted  with  the 
moving  life  of  the  elements  of  nature.  In  the  3Tth  chap- 
ter of  Job,  the  meteorological  processes  which  take  place 
in  the  atmosphere,  the  formation  and  solution  of  vapor, 
according  to  the  changing  direction  of  the  wind,  the  play 
of  its  colors,  the  generation  of  hail  and  of  the  rolling 
thunder,  are  described  with  individualizing  accuracy;  and 
many  questions  are  propounded  which  we,  in  the  present 
state  of  our  physical  knowledge,  may  indeed  be  able  to 
express  under  more  scientific  definitions,  but  scarcely  to 
answer  satisfactorily."  "  The  book  of  Job,"  observes  Hum- 
boldt, "  is  alike  picturesque  in  the  delineation  of  individual 


SCIENCE   OF   THE   BIBLE.  205 

phenomena,  and  artistically  skillful  in  didactic  arrangement 
of  the  whole  work."  "  The  Lord  walketh  on  the  heights 
of  the  waters,  on  the  ridges  of  the  waves  towering  high 
beneath  the  force  of  the  wind."  The  morning  red  has 
colored  the  margins  of  the  earth,  and  variously  formed  the 
covering  of  the  clouds,  as  the  hand  of  man  moulds  the 
yielding  clay.  The  habits  of  animals  are  described,  as 
those  of  the  wild  ass,  the  horse,  the  buffalo,  the  rhinoceros, 
the  crocodile,  the  eagle,  and  the  ostrich.  We  see  "  the 
pure  ether  spread,  during  the  scorching  heat  of  the  south 
wind,  as  a  melted  mirror  over  the  parched  desert."  "  Who 
shut  up  the  sea  with  doors,  when  it  brake  forth,  as  if  it 
had  issued  out  of  the  womb?  When  I  made  the  cloud 
the  garment  thereof,  and  thick  darkness  a  swaddling  band 
for  it ;  and  brake  up  for  it  my  decreed  place,  and  set  bars 
and  doors,  and  said,  Hitherto  shalt  thou  come,  but  no 
further:  and  here  shall  thy  proud  waves  be  stayed  !"  It 
would  not  be  difficult  to  construe,  in  these  words,  the  phe- 
nomena of  the  origin  of  the  world  on  the  basis  of  the 
nebular  hypothesis.  Again,  in  the  71th  Psalm,  "  The  waters 
saw  thee,  0  God,  the  waters  saw  thee :  they  were  afraid : 
the  depths  also  were  troubled.  The  clouds  poured  out 
water :  the  skies  sent  out  a  sound  :  thine  arrows  also 
went  abroad.  The  voice  of  thy  thunder  was  in  the 
heavens ;  the  lightnings  lightened  the  world :  the  earth 
trembled  and  shook.  Thy  way  is  in  the  sea,  and  thy  path 
in  the  great  waters,  and  thy  footsteps  are  not  known. 
Thou  didst  divide  the  sea  in  thy  strength :  thou  didst 
cleave  the  fountain  and  the  flood :  thou  didst  dry  up  mighty 
rivers.  The  day  is  thine,  the  night  also  is  thine  :  thou 
hast  prepared  the  light  and  the  sun,"  etc.,  etc. 

I  might  multiply  quotations,  ad  infinitum,  for  nearly  the 
entire  book  of  Job,  which  is  of  equal  if  not  greater  anti- 
quity than  that  of  Moses,  together  with  a  large  portion 
of  the  Psalms,  are  each  full  of  instructive  and  impressive 


206       THE  FOURTH  DAY — ASTRO- GEOLOGICAL. 

meaning  in  relation  to  the  physical  phenomena  of  the 
earth.  No  one  can  read  these  beautiful  portions  of  the 
Bible  without  being  impressed  with  the  accuracy  of  their 
descriptions,  and  the  spirit  of  fervid  sublimity  which  dis- 
tinguishes them  as  poems. 

In  concluding  my  observations  on  this  day,  it  is,  per- 
haps, hardly  necessary  to  remind  the  reader  that,  inasmuch 
as  the  light  of  the  sun  had  only  been  introduced  for  the 
first  time,  during  the  fourth  day,  and  was  especially  in- 
tended to  mark  the  days  and  seasons,  as  well  as  to  rule 
over  them — no  days,  properly  so  understood,  could  have 
existed,  or  been  contemplated  by  Moses,  ir.  the  previous 
epochs.  This  proposition  is  so  self-evident,  that  no  candid 
mind  can,  for  a  moment,  question  it.  Although  Moses  is 
constantly  speaking  of  days,  it  is  clear  that  he  always 
contemplates  lengthened  periods  of  time,  as.  we  have 
already  surmised  in  the  earlier  pages  of  this  volume  ;  for 
nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  the  days  of  the  coal  and 
metamorphic  periods  (if  they  could  exist  at  all  as  a  di- 
urnal measure  of  time)  were  wholly  dissimilar  to  those 
which  occurred  afterward,  and  which  occur  now.  This 
conclusion  is  made  perfectly  overwhelming  in  the  second 
chapter  of  Genesis,  where  Moses  observes  (in  allusion  to 
this  period)  that  "  the  Lord  God  had  not  caused  it  to  rain 
upon  the  earth,  and  there  was  not  a  man  to  till  the  ground ; 
but  there  went  up  a  mist  from  the  earth,  and  watered  the 
whole  face  of  the  ground. "  Is  not  this  wonderful  ?  Does 
it  not  confirm,  in  the  most  remarka-ble  manner,  the  peculiar 
phenomena  of  the  coal  period — but  above  all,  its  singular 
climate  ?  If  such  were  its  general  aspects,  we  at  once 
perceive  the  propriety  of  specially  introducing  the  light 
of  the  sun  on  the  fourth  day.  It  is  spoken  of  before, 
among  the  phenomena  of  the  first  day,  and  therefore 
already  existed ;  but  its  light  was  now  required  to  ride 
over  the  days  and  seasons  ;  and  this  was  fully  accomplished 


MILTON'S  FOURTH  PLAY.  207 

after  the  absorption  of  the  carbonic  acid  and  the  elevation 
of  the  mountains.  The  atmosphere  soon  became  more 
diversified,  as  well  as  beautifully  clear  and  transparent,  so 
that,  on  the  following  day,  or  era,  the  birds  were  enabled 
to  spread  their  pinions  in  the  " open  firmament  of  heaven." 
The  earth  was  thus  again  prepared  for  the  still  nobler, 
and  grander  scenes  that  were  to  follow : 

Again  the  Almighty  spake  :  Let  there  be  lights 
High  in  the  expanse  of  heaven  to  divide 
The  day  from  night;  and  let  them  be  for  signs, 
For  seasons,  and  for  days,  and  circling  years  ; 
And  let  them  be  for  lights,  as  I  ordain 
Their  office  in  the  firmament  of  heaven 
To  give  light  on  the  earth ;  and  it  was  so. 
And  God  made  two  great  lights,  great  for  their  use 
To  man,  the  greater  to  have  rule  by  day, 
The  less  by  night,  altern :  and  made  the  stars, 
And  set  them  in  the  firmament  of  heaven, 
To  illuminate  the  earth,  and  rule  the  day 
In  their  vicissitude,  and  rule  the  night, 
And  light  from  darkness  to  divide.     God  saw, 
Surveying  hia  great  work,  that  it  was  good  : 
For  of  celestial  bodies  first  the  sun, 
A  mighty  sphere,  he  framed,  unlightsome  first, 
Though  of  ethereal  mould:  then  formed  the  moon 
Globose,  and  every  magnitude  of  stars, 
And  sowed  with  stars  the  heaven  thick  as  a  field. 
Of  light  by  far  the  greater  part  he  took, 
Transplanted  from  her  cloudy  shrine,  and  placed 
In  the  sun's  orb,  made  porous  to  receive 
And  drink  the  liquid  light,  firm  to  retain 
Her  gathered  beams,  great  palace  now  of  light. 
Hither,  as  to  a  fountain,  other  stars 
Repairing,  in  their  golden  urns  draw  light, 
And  hence  the  morning  planet  gilds  her  horns, 
By  tincture  or  reflection  they  augment 
Their  small  peculiar,  though  from  human  sight 
So  far  remote,  with  diminution  seen. 
First  in  his  east  the  glorious  lamp  was  seen, 
Regent  of  day,  and  all  the  horizon  round 
Invested  with  brigh*  rays,  jocund  to  run 
14 


208  THE   FOURTH   DAY — ASTRO- GEOLOGICAL. 

His  longitude  through  heaven's  high  road :  the  gray 

Dawn  and  the  Pleiades  before  him  danced, 

Shedding  sweet  influence.    Less  bright  the  moon, 

But  opposite  in  leveled  west  was  set 

His  mirror,  with  full  face  borrowing  her  light 

From  him,  for  other  light  she  needed  none 

In  that  aspect :  and  still  that  distance  keeps 

Till  night,  then  in  the  east  her  turn  she  shines, 

Revolved  on  heaven's  great  axle,  and  her  reign* 

With  thousand  lesser  lights  dividual  holds, 

With  thousand  thousand  stars,  that  then  appeared 

Spangling  the  hemisphere :  then  first  adorned 

With  their  bright  luminaries,  that  set  and  rose, 

Glad  evening  and  glad  morn  crown«d  the  Fourth  Day.—  Hilton. 


THE  FIFTH  DAY— GEOLOGICAL. 

20  And  God  said,  Let  the  waters  bring  forth  abundantly  the  moving 
creature  that  hath  life,  and  fowl  that  may  fly  above  the  earth  in  the  open 
firmament  of  heaven.  21  And  God  created  great  whales,  and  every  liv- 
ing creature  that  moveth,  which  the  waters  brought  forth  abundantly, 
after  their  kind,  and  every  winged  fowl  after  his  kind;  and  God  saw  that 
it  was  good.  22  And  God  blessed  them,  saying,  Be  fruitful,  and  multiply, 
and  fill  the  waters  in  the  sens,  and  let  fowl  multiply  in  the  earth. 
23  And  the  evening  and  the  morning  were  the  Fifth  Day. 

ZOOLOGISTS  classify  animal  species  into  four  grand  divi- 
sions, named  respectively  the  Eadiata,  the  Mollusca,  the 
Articulala,  and  the  Verlebrata.  The  first  division  (Eadi- 
ata)  is  divided  into  five  subordinate  groups,  consisting 
of  Spongiaria,  Polypifera,  Infusoria,  Foramenifera,  and 
Echinodermata.  These  are  the  lowest  and  most  minute 
species  of  animals  in  existence,  and  they  are  frequently 
only  perceptible  by  means  of  the  microscope.  They  exist 
in  lakes  and  seas  limited  to  a  certain  depth,  beyond  which 
the  pressure  of  the  water  is  perhaps  too  great  for  their 
delicate  anatomy.  The  difference  between  some  of  them 
and  vegetable  structure  is  so  slight  as  to  render  it  difficult 
to  establish  a  line  of  demarkation.  The  second  division 
(Mollusca)  comprises  a  soft  and  pulpy  animal,  most  gen- 
erally covered  by  a  calcareous  shell.  This  division  in- 
cludes a  great  variety  of  subordinate  species,  among  which 
may  be  mentioned  the  Brachiopoda,  the  Conchifera,  the 
Gasteropoda,  the  Cephalopoda,  and  the  Tentaculifera. 
These  are  numerously  represented  in  the  Silurian  strata 

(209) 


210  THE   FIFTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

by  the  beautiful  fossil  shells  of  the  Ammonite,  the  Nautilus, 
etc.  The  third  division  (Articulata)  comprehends  six 
subordinate  groups,  the  leading  peculiarities  of  which,  as 
a  whole,  are  their  jointed  and  ring-like  structure.  Of  the 
subordinate  types,  the  Annelida  are  worms ;  the  Cir- 
rhipoda  a  shell-worm,  generally  found  adhering  to  the 
shells  of  other  animals  ;  the  Crustacea  are  represented  in 
part  by  the  crabs  and  lobsters  of  our  seas,  though  they 
also  comprehend  many  other  types  essentially  different  in 
structure,  among  which  may  be  mentioned  the  sculptured 
shells  of  the  Trilobites,  the  fossils  of  which  are  often 
coiled  like  serpents  ;  while  the  Arachnida  include  spiders, 
scorpions,  and  the  several  varieties  of  insects,  butterflies, 
bees,  grasshoppers,  and  beetles.  The  fourth  and  last 
great  division  (  Vertebrata\  includes  all  animals  that  have 
internal,  articulated  skeletons,  and  is  divided  into  four 
leading  groups  —  Fishes,  Birds,  Reptiles,  and  Mam- 
mifera. 

Nearly  all  those  comprised  in  the  three  divisions  first 
named,  flourished  during  the  Paleozoic  and  the  Secondary 
eras,  and,  with  some  changes  or  alternations  of  genera 
and  species,  many  of  them  reappeared  in  the  subsequent 
Tertiary  and  modern  formations.  Of  the  Yertebrata,  the 
only  animals  that  did  not  appear  before  the  Tertiary,  were 
those  of  the  Mamrnifera,  though  these  were  represented 
in  the  seas  by  the  class  of  Cetacea,  comprising  whales, 
dolphins,  and  seals.  Inasmuch  as  all  these  animals  have 
contributed  largely  to  the  changes  wrought  upon  the 
earth,  a  brief  description  of  them  is  essential ;  but  this 
must  necessarily  be  general  rather  than  particular,  and 
comprehend  classes  instead  of  individuals  and  species. 
Most  of  those  belonging  to  the  first  division  being  micro- 
scopic animals,  little  or  nothing  is  known  of  them  except 
through  the  labors  of  original  investigators.  All  we  know 
of  them,  therefore,  or  of  most  of  them,  is  embraced  in 


ZOOLOGY.  211 

methodical  and  technical  language,  and  to  adopt  this  in  a 
work  addressed  to  the  popular  mind,  would  be  injudicious 
and  foreign  to  its  purpose.  Having  already  derived  aid 
from  the  valuable  work  of  the  late  Dr.  Richardson,  en- 
titled an  "  Introduction  to  Geology,"  (by  far  the  best 
compendium  of  that  science  with  which  we  are  acquainted,) 
I  shall  compile  mainly  from  it  the  information  necessary 
to  conduct  the  reader  over  this  important  branch  of  the 
subject — a  subject  which,  under,  the  name  of  Conchology, 
comprises  in  itself  a  vast  and  exhaustless  field  in  the  il- 
limitable domain  of  Natural  Science.  "  The  Spongiaria," 
he  observes,  "  are  among  the  lowest  forms  of  animal  life. 
They  are  composed  of  a  horny  frame-work,  invested  with 
a  simple  gelatinous  tissue,  and  furnished  with  vibratile 
cilia,  for  causing  currents  of  water  to  flow  through  their 
porous  structure ;  the  horny  net- work  is  consolidated  with 
silicious  or  calcareous  spicula3.  The  Spongiaria  remain 
rooted  to  rocks  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  or  hang  like  liv- 
ing stalactites  from  the  vaulted  arches  of  submarine  caves; 
or  their  delicate  vegetable  forms  droop  in  endless  variety 
from  the  shelving  edges  of  rocks  exposed  to  the  washing 
of  the  surge.  They  are  reproduced  by  small  gemmae, 
covered  with  cilia,  which  are  free  organisms  during  the 
first  period  of  their  existence.  We  form  three  orders  of 
this  class  :  the  first  have  silicious  spiculas,  the  second 
calcareous  spiculaB,  and  the  third  have  a  horny  net-work 
without  either.  Fossil  sponges  are  found  in  most  strata, 
either  entire  or  decomposed  into  spicula3.  .  .  Like  the 
bodies  of  recent  Spongiaria,  the  silicious  fossils  contain 
Infusoria  in  the  interior,  which  may  be  detected  by  the 
microscope."  The  spiculae  of  fresh-water  sponges  are 
found  in  great  profusion  in  lacustrine  Tertiary  beds,  along 
with  the  shields  of  fossil  Infusoria.  Many  of  the  moss 
agates  are  of  sponsions  origin,  and  present  some  of  the 


212  THE   FIFTH   DAT — GEOLOGICAL. 

most   beautiful   gems  that  come  under  the   eye   ©f  the 
lapidist. 

"The  skeleton  of  the  Polypifera  assumes  a  vast  variety 
of  forms,  being  horny  or  calcareous,  globular  or  branched, 
solid  or  tubular,  stellate,  porous,  or  retiform.  The  gel- 
atinous organized  substance  of  the  animal  is  inclosed  in 
ramified  tubular  sheaths,  or  expanded  over  the  surface  of 
the  calcareous  skeleton  which  it  incloses  and  secretes. 
The  mouth  of  the  polyp  is  surrounded  with  numerous 
filaments,  which,  in  the  highest  groups,  are  furnished  with 
vibratile  cilia.  Each  polyp,  or  digestive  sac,  contributes 
a  moiety  to  the  nourishment  of  the  compound  body  with 
which  it  is  originally  united.  This  physiological  relation 
occasions  remarkable  associations  ;  hence  the  stupendous 
results  obtained  from  their  operations  in  the  seas  of  inter- 
tropical  regions,  by  which  the  life  of  the  individual  is 
combined  with  the  life  of  the  whole,  and  the  nutriment 
prepared  by  each  organism  is  made  to  contribute  to  the 
nourishment  of  the  community,  as  in  the  red  coral."  The 
calcareous  skeletons  of  some  Anthozoa  are  very  abundant, 
and  attain  a  great  magnitude  in  the  Pacific,  where  they 
contribute  largely  to  the  formation  of  islands  and  conti- 
nents. ^  Dr.  Darwin,  in  his  work  on  Coral  Reefs,  has 
shown  that  the  zoophytic  productions  may  be  classified 
into  three  groups — Atolls,  Barrier-reefs,  and  Fringing- 
reefs ;  that  the  vital  operations  of  the  animal  are  limited 
within  a  range  of  thirty  fathoms,  and  that  beyond  that 
depth  they  cannot  live  ;  while  the  forms  which  the  reefs 
assume  depend  upon  the  elevation  or  subsidence  of  the 
ocean's  bed,  on  which  the  foundations  of  the  zoophytic 
structure  are  laid.  Coral-reefs  stretch  along  the  shores  of 
New  Caledonia  to  the  length  of  four  hundred  miles,  while 
they  extend  on  the  northeast  coast  of  Australia  for  up- 
ward of  a  thousand  miles.  Hundreds  of  islands  in  the 


THE   MICROSCOPIC    WCRLD.  213 

Pacific  are  made  up  almost  exclusively  of  their  calcareous 
remains. 

The  class  of  Polypifera  is  divided  into  two  orders,  the 
Bryozoa  and  the  Anthozoa.  The  first  comprises  five  or 
BIX  families,  and  the  other  more  than  a  dozen,  separated 
into  two  sub-orders.  It  is  unnecessary  here  even  to  men- 
tion the  names  of  these  subordinate  groups,  because  the 
distinctions  between  them  are  extremely  delicate,  and  diffi- 
cult of  specific  identity,  while  it  is  by  no  means  essential 
to  a  proper  understanding  of  the  animals  as  a  class.  The 
Bryozoan  order  is  the  most  highly  organized  coral  of  the 
class,  and  the  fact  that  it  existed  during  the  Silurian  era, 
disproves  the  idea  of  a  progressive  development  even  in 
the  first  and  lowest  forms  of  animal  life  ever  created. 

The  class  of  Infusoria  are  so  called  because  they  origi- 
nate and  abound  in  infusions  of  decomposed  vegetation  in 
ponds,  lakes,  rivers,  and  seas.  They  are  the  animalcules 
of  vegetable  juices,  and  are  so  inestimably  minute,  that 
they  can  often  be  detected  only  by  the  highest  powers  of 
the  microscope.  But,  small  as  they  are,  they  comprise 
many  distinct  genera,  and  many  hundreds  of  species. 
Some  of  them  are  inclosed  in  silicious  shells,  marked  with 
longitudinal,  transverse,  or  oblique  lines,  or  adorned  with 
various  other  forms  of  minute  sculpturing.  Many  of  them, 
especially  of  the  families  Bacillaridce  and  Peridinidce, 
are  found  in  a  fossil  state  in  the  Tertiary  beds  of  Europe 
and  America. 

Prof.  Ehrenberg,  of  Germany,  who  has  devoted  par- 
ticular attention  to  this  branch  of  microscopic  investiga- 
tion, has  ascertained  that  twenty-four  thousand  of  these 
organisms,  placed  together,  would  not  measure  one  inch 
in  length.  In  some  infusions,  indeed,  the  creatures  are 
so  small,  that  ten  thousand  can  swim  in  such  a  space ; 
hence  a  cubic  inch  would  contain  more  organized  animal- 
cules than  there  are  human  beings  on  the  surface  of  the 


214  THE   FIFTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

earth !  The  substance  known  as  Tripoli  is  composed 
wholly  of  the  silicious  shields  of  these  animals.  And 
Ehrenberg  has  estimated  that  a  cubic  line  of  this  polishing 
stone  contains,  in  round  numbers,  the  remains  of  no  less 
than  23,000,000  of  individuals.  But,  as  there  are  in  a 
cubic  inch  1,728  lines,  therefore  there  would  be  in  a 
cubic  inch  of  Tripoli,  as  sold  at  the  shops,  no  less  than 
39,744,000,000  of  the  fossil  armor  of  the  extinct  animal- 
culse  !  "This  overpowering  force  of  numbers,"  says  the 
late  Alexander  von  Humboldt,  in  speaking  of  the  propa- 
gation of  the  light  of  luminous  cosmical  bodies,  "is  as 
clearly  manifested  in  the  smallest  organisms  of  animal 
life  as  in  the  Milky  Way  of  these  self-luminous  suns  which 
we  call  fixed  stars,  ^hat  masses  of  Polythalamiae  are 
inclosed,  according  to  Ehrenberg,  in  one  thin  stratum  of 
chalk  !  This  eminent  investigator  of  nature  asserts  that 
one  cubic  inch  of  the  Bilin  polishing  slate,  which  consti- 
tutes a  sort  of  mountain  cap  forty  feet  in  height,  contains 
forty-one  thousand  millions  of  the  microscopic  Galionella 
distans;  while  the  same  volume  contains  more  than  one 
billion  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  millions  of  dis- 
tinct individuals  of  Galionella  ferruginea.  Such  estimates 
remind  us  of  the  treatise,  named  Arenarius,  of  Archimedes 
— of  sand-grains  which  might  fill  the  universe  of  space  ! 
If  the  starry  heavens,  by  incalculable  numbers,  magni- 
tude, space,  duration,  and  length  of  periods,  impress  man 
with  the  conviction  of  his  own  insignificance,  his  physical 
weakness,  and  the  ephemeral  nature  of  his  existence ;  he 
is,  on  the  other  hand,  cheered  and  invigorated  by  the  con- 
sciousness of  having  been  enabled,  by  the  application  and 
development  of  intellect,  to  investigate  very  many  im- 
portant points  in  reference  to  the  laws  of  Nature  and  the 
sidereal  arrangement  of  the  Universe." 

In  Lapland  and  Finland  there  are  beds  of  fossil  fauna, 
which  the  natives  mix  with   flour,  and  eat.     The  micro- 


MICROSCOPIC   ANIMALb.  215 

scope  shows  that  this  farina,  which  occurs  aa  a  commi- 
nuted powder,  consists  of  the  shields  of  infusoria.  Their 
fossils  are  also  found  in  opals  and  semi-opals,  stones 
which  often  rank  next  to  the  diamond  in  value,  and,  in  the 
play  of  colors,  fullj*  equal  it  in  beauty. 

The  Foramenifera  are  microscopic  animals  of  a  simple, 
gelatinous,  fleshy  substance,  without  appreciable  organiza- 
tion, which  secrete  a  delicate,  calcareous,  and  many-cham- 
bered shell,  of  extreme  beauty,  into  the  cells  of  which  the 
body  of  the  animal  retires.  The  animal,  by  peculiar 
expansions  and  retractile  movements,  is  enabled  to  crawl 
and  swim.  They  are  alike  wonderful  for  the  simplicity 
of  their  organization,  and  the  variety  and  delicate  struc- 
ture of  their  shells.  Plancus  collected  6,000  shells  from 
an  ounce  of  sand,  on  the  shores  of  the  Adriatic,  and 
D'Orbigny  fourid  3,840,000  in  the  same  quantity  of  sand 
on  the  shores  of  the  Antilles.  Saldami  collected  from 
less  than  an  ounce  and  a  half  of  rock,  from  the  hills  of 
Casciana,  in  Tuscany,  10,454  fossil  shells  of  Foramenifera. 
Several  of  the  species  are  so  minute,  that  500  weigh  only 
one  grain,  and  others,  still  more  minute,  would  require 
double  that  number  to  make  the  same  weight.  Yet,  so 
abundant  are  their  remains,  that  they  often  form  banks 
that  blockade  navigable  channels,  obstruct  gulfs  of  the 
sea,  or  fill  up  harbors,  and,  aided  by  the  polyps,  form  ex- 
tensive islands  in  tropical  seas,  or  along  continents, 
hundreds  of  miles  in  length.  Their  shells  occur  in  great 
abundance  in  the  Tertiary  strata,  while  about  twenty 
species  are  found  in  the  oolite,  and  two  hundred  and  fifty 
in  the  chalk.  But  they  are  still  more  numerous  in  the 
modern  era — D'Orbigny,  the  celebrated  French  Concholo- 
gist,  having  identified  over  nine  hundred  species  now 
living  in  our  seas. 

"The  Echinodennata,"  says  Dr.  Richardson,  "forms 
the  true  type  of  the  radiata  division,  and  is  composed  of 


216  THE   FIFTH    DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

animals,  fixed  and  free,  with  a  highly-organized  integu- 
ment, for  the  most  part  armed  with  movable  spines.  In 
the  rayed  families,  the  organs  of  locomotion  are  disposed 
around  a  central  axis  (and  are  hence  often  called  sea- 
stars).  In  the  spherical  forms,  they  are  ranged  in  rows 
like  the  lines  of  longitude  on  a  terrestrial  globe,  and 
the  mouth  and  the  arms  are  situate  at  the  opposite 
poles.  Each  element  of  the  body  is  in  general  repeated 
five  times.  Thus,  the  sea-lily  has  five  primary  arms  ;  the 
sea-star,  five  rays ;  and  the  sea-urchin,  five  pairs  of  per- 
forated and  five  pairs  of  imperforated  plates  in  its  shell. 
The  external  surface  of  the  skeleton  supports  a  series  of 
movable  spines,  and  the  perforated  portion  gives  passage 
to  thousands  of  tubular  feet  for  gliding  over  the  bed  of  the 
shallow  shores  they  inhabit.  The  three  higher  orders  of 
this  class,  are  free,  ambulatory  animals,  while  the  crenoids 
are  generally  fixed  by  a  calcareous  stem,  like  the  polyps. 
The  higher  forms  also  possess  visual  organs — a  feature  in 
which  all  the  other  radiata  are  deficient.  The  Echinoder- 
mata  have  a  distinct  system  of  vessels  for  the  circulation 
of  the  blood,  and  some  of  them  a  tree-like  organ  for  respi- 
ration. The  class  comprises  four  orders — Holothurida, 
Echinida,  Asterida,  and  Crinoida. 

Such,  in  brief,  are  the  varied  and  minute  aqueous  crea- 
tures whose  delicate  secretions  have,  in  the  course  of  ages, 
wrought  the  most  stupendous  and  wonderful  changes 
upon  the  earth.  Inhabiting  the  more  shallow  bottoms  of 
the  sea,  their  vegetable  instincts  have  covered  it  with 
magnificent  coral  orchards,  that  sparkle  in  the  water  like 
the  ice-spangled  foliage  of  winter,  and  elaborating,  as  it 
were,  pebbled  fruits  of  agates,  opals,  and  emeralds. 
While  thousands  of  millions  of  them,  as  we  have  seen, 
could  occupy  a  cubic  inch  of  water,  and  then  not  feel  any 
thing  like  the  ambition  '*'for  enlarging  the  area  of  freedom" 
which  has  ever  distinguished  filibustering  man,  they  have 


WORKS   OF   MICROSCOPIC  ANIMALS.  217 

yet  reared  up  monuments  of  their  untiring  industry  and 
combined  power,  far  greater  and  more  enduring  than  the 
pyramids  of  Egypt,  or  the  marble  temples  of  Greece  and 
Home — temples  which,  in  fact,  are  often  erected  with 
rocks  composed  of  their  fossil  remains.  Their  islands 
stretched,  and  even  now  extend  hundreds  of  miles  amid 
the  watery  fields  of  ocean,  and  their  peninsulas  have 
brought  whole  continents  into  friendly  union.  Such  are 
the  creatures — the  unseen  workers  which  the  great  Creator 
employs  to  carry  out  his  architectural  designs. 

The  Mollusca,  which  form  the  second  great  division  of 
animal  life,  are  generally  distinguished  for  a  body  inar- 
ticulate, soft,  and  pulpy,  and  usually  inclosed  in  a  cal- 
careous shell.  The  primary  division  of  the  class  is  based 
on  the  development  of  the  nervous  system,  and  on  the 
presence  or  absence  of  the  ganglia  that  represent  the 
brain.  The  first  form  the  Encephalous,  and  the  second 
the  Acephalous  orders.  The  encephalous  possess  organs 
of  sense,  and  their  blood  circulates  in  a  system  of  arteries 
and  veins,  aided  by  the  contraction  of  a  two-chambered 
heart.  The  terrestrial,  and  most  of  the  lacustrine  species, 
breathe  by  an  air-sac  or  lung;  and  all  the  marine,  and 
most  of  the  lacustrine  species,  have  branchiae  for  respira- 
tion. Their  shells  are  composed  of  a  cellular,  albuminous 
membrane,  indurated  by  carbonate  of  lime,  and  secreted 
by  a  portion  of  the  tegumentary  system  or  mantle.  The 
shell  is  generally  external,  and  presents  a  great  variety  of 
forms.  Sometimes  it  is  internal,  and  appears  like  a  rudi- 
mentary bone.  They  are  for  the  most  part  marine 
animals  ;  but  many  inhabit  fresh- water  lakes,  and  a  few 
live  on  the  land.  The  character  of  the  shells  varies  with 
their  habitat — those  of  the  marine  species  are  large  and 
heavy,  while  in  the  others  they  are  usually  light  and  deli- 
cate. The  Acephalous  are  all  aquatic,  and  embrace  three 
sub-classes  :  the  Tunicata  have  no  shell,  br  t  are  inclosed 


218  THE   FIFTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

in  an  elastic  muscular  sac,  with  two  openings ;  some  are 
solitary,  others  social,  and  organically  united  in  groups 
like  polyps.  The  Brachiopoda  are  inclosed  in  a  bivalve 
shell.  They  have  two  long  spiral  arms,  developed  from 
the  sides  of  the  mouth,  and  fixed  to  an  internal  frame 
work.  The  Conchifera  have  also  a  bivalve  shell,  and 
respire  by  laminated  branches  attached  to  the  mantle. 
Most  of  them  have  a  fleshy  foot  for  locomotion. 

The  Encephalous  class  are  divided  into  sub-classes  ac- 
cording to  the  modifications  of  their  organs  of  locomo- 
tion. The  Gasteropoda  are  generally  inclosed  in  a  uni- 
valve shell.  They  creep  by  means  of  muscular  discs, 
situated  under  the  body.  The  Pleropoda  swim  by  two 
wing-like  membranes,  situated  at  the  sides  of  the  neck. 
When  they  have  a  shell,  it  is  thin,  fragile,  and  univalve. 
The  Cephalopoda  have  their  locomotive  organs  arranged 
round  the  head,  in  the  form  of  eight  or  more  arms,  with 
or  without  sucking  discs.  Some  have  internal  bones,  as 
the  Lepia  and  Laligo.  Others  have  an  external  many- 
chambered  shell. 

The  classes  of  Mollusca,  thus  enumerated,  embrace  to- 
gether many  hundred  species,  some  of  which,  from  their  rela- 
tion to  the  ancient  earth,  deserve  special  consideration.  Of 
the  Brachiopoda,  the  species  Terebiatula  were  very  numer- 
ous and  constituted  nearly  one-fourth  of  the  Mollusca  of  the 
primary  eras.  The  calceola,  chonetes,  leptoena,  productus, 
etc.,  are  found  only  in  the  paleozoic  rocks.  The  Conchi- 
fera embrace  nearly  a  thousand  species,  many  of  which 
are  found  in  the  most  ancient  rocks,  and  although  their 
generic  forms  have  slightly  varied  during  the  long  periods 
which  have  elapsed,  nothing  is  observed  in  their  history 
to  justify  the  supposition  that  there  is  any  process  of  de- 
velopment from  lower  to  higher  forms.  Yery  remarkable 
changes,  however,  have  taken  place  in  species  at  different 
periods.  Of  nearly  a  thousand  species  obtained  from  the 


MOLLUSCAN   AKIMALS.  .          219 

Tertiary,  more  than  a  seventh  part  of  them  were  found  to 
be  identical  with  living  species  of  the  same  or  of  distant 
latitudes.  While,  in  the  same  genera,  the  number  of 
species  found  in  the  Tertiary,  often  exceeds  that  of  the 
species  now  known  in  a  living  state.  It  appears  that 
there  has  been  a  constant  oscillation  in  the  number  of 
species  in  each  genus  in  the  Tertiary,  as  compared  with 
the  modern  epoch ;  but  there  has  been  no  gradual  perfec- 
tioning  of  the  same.* 

The  remains  of  the  Gasteropoda  are  important  to  the 
geologist,  as  affording  unequivocal  evidence  of  the  fluviatile, 
lacustrine,  and  marine  conditions  under  which  strata  were 
formed.  "The  species  of  gasteropoda,"  says  Prof.  Grant, 
"  are  much  less  abundant  in  the  ancient  grauwacke  (Silu- 
rian) limestones  than  those  of  bivalved  mollusca ;  only 
about  seventy  species  of  the  former  having  been  yet  iden- 
tified in  the  strata  of  that  epoch,  and  a  quarter  of  these 
belong  to  the  extinct  genus  euomphalus,  which  ceases  with 
the  carboniferous  rocks.  Most  of  the  species,  however, 
observed  in  these  ancient  grauwacke  formations,  are  re- 
ferred to  existing  genera,  as  turritella,  of  which  about  ten 
species  occur ;  turbo,  six  species  ;  buccinum,  patella,  del- 
phinula,  five  each  ;  nerita,  pileopsis,  trochus,  and  phasia- 
nella,  three  species  each." 

The  Pteropoda,  it  has  already  been  remarked,  swim  by 
muscular  membranous  expansions  of  the  mantle,  which 
project  from  the  sides  of  the  head.  Their  body  is  naked, 
or  sometimes  protected  by  a  delicate  shell.  They  are 
small  animals  that  float  on  the  surface  of  the  ocean  far 
away  from  shore.  In  the  North  Seas,  the  clio  and  li- 
ruacia  swarm  in  such  abundance  that  they  are  said  to 
constitute  the  food  of  the  whale.  The  clio  is  provided 
with  a  singularly  complex  apparatus,  which  has  recently 

*  Kichardson's  Introduction  to  Geology,  p.  237. 


220  THE   FIFTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

been  described  by  Eschricht  of  Copenhagen.  The  head 
is  furnished  with  six  retractile  appendages,  which  have  a 
reddish  tint,  from  the  number  of  distinct  red  spots  distri- 
buted over  the  surface,  amounting  in  each  to  about  three 
thousand.  When  viewed  with  a  microscope,  each  speck 
is  seen  to  be  the  orifice  of  a  sheath  which  contains  about 
twenty  pedunculated  sucking  discs,  that  are  capable  of 
protrusion  for  the  prehension  of  prey;  so  that  the  head 
of  the  clio  borealis  is  armed  with  three^mndred  and  sixty 
thousand  microscopic  suckers — an  instrument  which,  for 
complexity,  is  quite  unique  in  the  animal  series. 

The  Cephalopida  have  a  thick,  soft,  fleshy  body,  some- 
times protected  by  a  shell,  and  sometimes  naked.  The 
mantle  is  a  musculo-membranous  sheath,  inclosing  the 
digestive,  respiratory,  circulating,  and  generative  organs. 
The  head  is  distinct  from  the  trunk ;  is  of  large  size,  and 
round  form.  It  contains  the  organs  of  the  five  senses, 
and  those  for  mastication  and  deglutition.  It  is  surrounded 
by  a  circle  of  fleshy  processes,  or  feet,  from  whence  the 
name  of  the  class  is  derived.  The  eyes  are  two  in  number, 
of  large  size,  and  highly  organized.  The  mouth  is  armed 
with  a  pair  of  vertical,  horny  or  calcareous  jaws,  resem- 
bling the  bill  of  a  parrot,  and  inclose  a  fleshy  tongue. 
The  class  comprises  two  orders,  the  principal  one  being 
the  Tentaculifera,  of  which  the  Nautilus  Pompilius  is  the 
type.  They  have  large  extended  univalve  sheHs,  sym- 
metrical in  form,  and  divided  internally  into  a  series  of 
chambers,  the  last  being  very  capacious,  for  lodging  the 
body  of  the  animal.  A  tube  passes  through  all  the  cham- 
bers, and  opens  into  a  muscular  sac  surrounding  the  breast. 
This  apparatus  is  intended  to  facilitate  the  ascent  and  de- 
scent of  the  animal  in  water,  by  determining  an  increase 
or  diminution  in  the  specific  gravity  of  the  shell — the 
reservoir  and  siphon  can  be  distended  with  water,  thereby 
augmenting  the  weight  of  the  shell,  or  emptied  by  the 


ANIMALS    OF    THE    ANCIENT    SEAS.  221 

contraction  of  its  muscular  walls,  and  thus  enabling  the 
animal  to  float.  The  weight  of  the  sea- water  is  the  ballast 
by  which  they  thus  ascend  or  descend.  Their  eyes  are 
more  simple  than  those  of  the  Acetabiitiferce,  which  com- 
pose the  other  class  of  the  order. 

The  Tentaculifera  comprise  three  families — the  Nau- 
tilidae,  the  Clymenidas,  and  the  Ammonitidse.  The  first 
have  the  siphon  in  the  middle  of  the  septa,  a  spiral  or 
straight  shell,  and  a  septa  simple  or  sinuous.  The  family 
contains  but  one  living  genus,  known  as  the  nautilus. 
This  has  a  spiral  shell,  rolled  on  the  same  plane,  and  volu- 
tions at  all  ages  contiguous,  apparent,  or  concealed.  It 
contains  more  than  one  hundred  and  twelve  species,  which 
made  their  first  appearance  in  the  Devonian  rocks,  and 
attained  their  highest  development  during  the  coal  period. 
After  appearing  in  all  the  subsequent  eras,  but  two  living 
species  now  remain.  The  Clymenidos  have  the  siphon  in 
the  internal  part  of  the  septa ;  and  the  shell  is  spiral,  arched 
or  straight.  The  genera  melia,  cameroceras, phragmoceras, 
and  clymenia  are  extinct,  and  belong  to  the  paleozoic  era. 
These  shells  are  very  beautiful.  The  Ammonitidce  have 
the  siphon  at  the  external  dorsal  part  of  the  septa ;  and 
the  shell  is  spiral  or  straight,  arched  or  bent  in  various 
forms.  The  genera  oncoceras,  cyrtoceras,  gyoceras,  cryp- 
toceras,  and  stenoceras  are  all  found  in  the  paleozoic  era. 
Goniatites  are  Devonian  and  carboniferous,  and  ceratites 
are  triassic  forms.  The  Gr.  Ammonites  form  a  regular 
spiral,  rolled  on  the  same  plane,  with  the  turns  contiguous. 
Five  hundred  and  thirty  species  of  this  genus  have  been 
identified.  They  comprise  some  of  the  most  ornate  and 
magnificent  shells  of  the  ocean.  In  each  of  the  eighteen 
geological  stages  in  which  ammonites  are  found,  certain 
groups  of  specific  forms  are  found  to  characterize  the  dif- 
ferent beds. 

The  ten-armed  Cephalopods,  with  internal  shells,  com- 


222  THE   FIFTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

prise  the  families  of  Spiculidce,  Loligidce,  Te'ithidce,  and 
Belemnitidce.  The  first  have  an  internal  calcareous  shell, 
with  a  series  of  air-chambers,  traversed  by  a  siphon.  It 
includes  living  and  fossil  genera.  The  second  family  have 
an  internal  horny  plate  of  a  feather-like  form,  but  no  air- 
chambers.  Fossils  are  found  in  the  oolite.  The  third 
have  an  internal  blade,  like  an  arrow,  also  without  air- 
chambers.  Fossils  of  these  genera  occur  in  the  oolite. 
The  Belemnites  have  an  internal  horny  skeleton,  arid  a 
testaceous  shell,  formed  of  air-chambers,  piled  on  each 
other  in  a  straight  line,  and  traversed  by  a  lateral  and 
marginal  siphon.  The  genera  are  all  extinct.  They 
occur  in  the  oolite  and  chalk,  and  distinguish  the  strata 
by  their  specific  forms. 

The  Tentaculifera  were  among  the  first  animal  forms 
that  appeared  on  the  earth,  being  found  in  the  Silurian 
rocks.  There  were  twenty-two  genera  in  the  Paleozoic 
period ;  seven  in  the  triassic  ;  the  same  number  in  the 
oolite ;  fourteen  in  the  cretaceous,  and  but  one  genus  in 
the  modern  seas.  The  Acetabulifera  appeared  in  the 
oolite  with  twelve  genera,  and  in  the  Tertiary  with  four ; 
five,  however,  still  survive.* 

The  annexed  table,  originally  compiled  by  the  great 
French  conchologist,  Alcide  d'Orbigny,  presents  the  num- 
ber of  species  of  Kadiata  and  Mollusca  belonging  to  each 
geological  or  stratigraphical  stage  of  the  earth.  It  exhibits 
at  a  glance  the  whole  extent  and  distribution  of  their  fossil 
remains,  and  of  their  specialty  to  particular  eras.  The 
species  now  living  are  omitted,  but  they  are  for  the 
most  part  indicated  in  the  Pliocene,  the  last  stage  of  the 
Tertiary. 

*  The  authors  cited  in  the  foregoing  compilation,  besides  Dr.  Richard- 
son,  are  Pictet's  Paleontologie,  Magazine  of  Natural  History,  Mantell's 
Isle  of  Wight,  Pictorial  Atlas,  Natural  History  of  Crinoida,  the  British 
Annual,  Prof.  Gray,  Dr.  Wright,  D'Orbigny,  Owen,  etc.,  etc* 


ANIMALS  OF  THE   ANCIENT  SEAS. 


JSSo 


TABLE  EXHIBITING  THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  FOSSIL  MOL- 
LUSCA AND  RADIATA  IN  EACH  FORMATION. 


GEOLOGICAL    STACKS    OR   SUB-ERAS. 

MOLLUSCA. 
No.  species  in 
each  stage. 

RADIATA. 

No.  species  in 
each  stage. 

Total  of  both 
species  in  each 
stage. 

Pliocene  

444 

162 

606 

2903 

160 

3063 

Eocene  

1478 

199 

1677 

'     562 

132 

694 

Upper  Chalk  .$.  

1208 

524 

1232 

Lower  Chalk  

218 

148 

366 

627 

183 

810 

307 

62 

359 

656 

124 

781 

Portland  Bed?  

59 

2 

61 

184 

16 

200 

Coral  Ra*  

403 

235 

638 

499 

230 

729 

Kellowav  Rock  

253 

25 

278 

Bath  Oolite  

407 

125 

532 

Inferior  Oolite  

508 

94 

602 

273 

14 

287 

Middle  Lias  

270 

13 

283 

163 

12 

175 

Red  Marls  

619 

114 

733 

104 

3 

107 

Magnesian  Limestone  ..  ..           .  ... 

82 

9 

91 

887 

161 

104S 

Devonian    or  Old  Red,  etc  ..                .. 

1054 

146 

1200 

356 

61 

418 

375 

52 

427 

Total  

14,947 

3,000 

17,947 

The  Mollusca  inhabiting  the  seas  and  lakes  of  the  mod- 
ern era,  are  perhaps  no  less  numerous  and  varied  than 
they  were  in  previous  eras.  Indeed,  it  will  be  seen  by 
the  table  already  presented,  that  they  attained  their  great- 
est development  in  the  ancient  earth  during  the  Tertiary 
period ;  while  the  table  below,  compiled  from  the  re- 
searches of  Baron  Cuvier  and  other  distinguished  natural- 
ists, will  sufficiently  indicate  that  there  has  been  no 
diminution  of  species,  whatever  depreciation,  if  any,  may 
have  occurred  in  individual  numbers.  It  will  also  ex- 
15 


224  THE   FIFTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

hibit,  in  a  very  remarkable  degree,  that  instead  of  the 
ancient  forms  having  passed  into  a  higher  grade  of  ani- 
mals, they  are  still  maintained  in  their  original  and  un- 
deviating  moulds  ;  which,  indeed,  nothing  short  of  direct 
and  specific  creation  could  change : 


TABLE  EXHIBITING  THE  SPECIES  OF  LIVING  MOLLUSCA. 

MULTIVALVES,    OR  SHELLS   WITH    MANY   VALVES. 
Genera — classic  terms.  Genera — common  names.  No.  specie*. 

Chiton f Coat-of-mail 28 

Lepas Acorn  shell 32 

Pholas Stone-piercer «...  12 

BIVALVES,    OB   SHELLS    WITH   TWO   VALVES. 
Genera — classic  terms.  Genera — common  names.  No.  species. 

Mya Truncate,  trough-shell,  or  gaper '. ....... ..26 

golen Razor-sheath,  or  knife-handle 23 

Tellina Tellen 94 

Cardium Cockle,  or  heart-shell 52 

Mactra Kneading-trough 27 

Donax Wedge-shell.: 19 

Venus Venus 153 

Spondylus Thorny  oyster,  or  artichoke  head 4 

Chama Clamps,  or  clams 25 

Area Ark 43 

Ostrea Oyster  and  scallop 36 

Anomia Antique  lamp 51 

Mytilus Mussel 64 

Pirnea - Fin-shell,  or  sea  wing 18 

UNIVALVES,    SINGLE   VALVE   WITH    REGULAR    SPIRE. 
Genera — classic  terms.  Genera — common  names.  No.  species, 

Argonauta... Paper  sailor 5 

Nautilus.....'. Pearly  sailor 31 

Conus Cone 83 

Cyproea Cowry 120 

Bulla Dipper,  or  bubble 52 

Voluta Volute,  or  wreath 144 

Buocinum Whelk 200 

Strombus Winged,  or  claw  shell 53 

Murex Trumpet,  or  rock  shell 182 

Trochus Top-shell 33 

Trubo Wreath,  gig,  or  top-shell 151 

Helix Snail  or  spiral 267 

Nerita Nerit,  or  hoof-shell 76 

Huliotis Sea-ear,  or  ear-shell 19 

Total  genera 31     Total  species 2,108 


ANIMALS   OF   THE   ANCIENT   SEAS.  225 

It  will  thus  be  observed  that  the  species  of  Molluscan 
animals  are  quite  as  numerous  in  the  present  geological 
era  as  they  were  in  any  of  those  of  previous  formations. 
They  were  only  surpassed  by  the  Miocene  stage  of  the 
Tertiary,  which,  however,  contained  many  allied  with 
species  still  living.  This  overwhelming  fact  ought  to  be 
sufficient  to  put  the  seal  of  condemnation  upon  all  theories 
contemplating  a  gradual  change  and  development  of  or- 
ganic species,  from  a  lower  to  a  higher  type,  or  from  a 
higher  to  a  lower  type. 

The  third  primary  division  of  animal  life  comprises  the 
Articulata. — animals  that,  in  the  absence  of  a  true  skele- 
ton, have  their  bodies  surrounded  by  movable  rings,  or  by 
coats  of  horny  or  calcareous  enamel.  They  range  higher 
in  the  scale  of  organization  than  the  Molluscans,  but 
neither  are  furnished  with  the  skeleton  of  the  Vertebrata. 
They  are  divided  into  six  classes  —  the  Annelida,  Cir- 
rhipoda,  Crustacea,  Arachnida,  Myriopoda,  and  Insecta. 
All  of  these,  again,  comprise  numerous  sub-classes,  fami- 
lies, and  species. 

The  Annelides  are  worms  with  red  blood,  and  have  a 
soft,  elongated,  and  articulated  body,  divided  in  folds  and 
segments.  Some  of  them  form  tubes  to  live  in,  either  of 
calcareous  matter  exuded  from  their  own  body,  or  from 
foreign  substances ;  to  which  tubes,  however,  they  are 
not  attached.  None  of  this  family  have  feet ;  but  the 
greater  number  have  setce,  or  bundles  of  stiff  movable 
hairs,  which  supply  their  place.  They  are  generally  her- 
maphrodite ;  and  their  food  consists  of  insects  and  vege- 
tables. Nearly  all  live  in  the  water,  or  bury  themselves 
in  holes  in  mud  or  sand.  The  sea  lunibrici,  or  worms, 
though  forming  a  numerous  and  diversified  family,  yet 
require  no  particular  notice.  The  lumbrici  terrestres,  or 
common  earth-worms,  so  well  known,  are  the  only  ani- 
mals of  this  class  which  do  not  enter  the  wate«  They 


226  THE   FIFTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

are  destitute  of  eyes,  attain  to  about  a  foot  in  length,  and 
their  body  is  divided  by  a  hundred  or  more  rings.  They 
pierce  the  earth  with  ease.  At  least  twenty  spocies  are 
known.  It  may  be  here  remarked  that  the  earth- svorm  is 
a  great  assistant  an!  friend  to  the  farmer  and  gardener. 
Living  near  the  surface,  their  perforations  aerify  the  soil, 
and  allow  the  passage  of  water  to  the  roots  of  vegetation. 
Their  secretions  also  contribute  to  the  chemical  changes 
which  occur  in  the  processes  of  vegetation,  and  furnish  to 
the  young  roots  the  very  nourishment  they  require.  De- 
spised and  trodden  upon  by  man,  the  Creator  seems  to 
have  intended  them  as  a  secret  auxiliary  in  the  economy 
of  the  earth,  by  aid  of  which  it  is  clothed  with  flowers, 
fruits,  and  herbs.  Yet  many  a  fool,  unable  to  comprehend 
the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  Providence,  would  shrug  his 
shoulders  in  affected  disgust  at  these  slimy  burrowers, 
and  wonder  why  they  were  suffered  to  crawl  upon  the 
earth !  The  wonder,  indeed,  is  that  they  themselves 
should  be  allowed  to  feast  and  revel  upon  the  labors  of 
God's  humble  workers ! 

The  Annelides  embrace  two  orders,  the  first  character- 
ized by  naked  bodies,  as  the  Nerites,  and  the  other  by  a 
cjalcareous  or  membranous  tube  or  sheath.  To  these  be- 
long the  Serpula  of  the  Devonian  and  oolitic  rocks,  the 
Terebella,  and  the  Spinorbis  and  Siliquaria  of  the  Ter- 
tiary. The  common  leech,  so  extensively  employed  in 
medicine,  belongs  to  the  former  order.  It  is  furnished 
with  a  three-fold  and  triangular  jaw,  with  two  ranges  of 
very  fine  teeth,  which  act  like  a  cupping-glass.  The 
blood  with  which  the  animal  will  gorge  itself  does  not  go 
into  the  stomach,  but  into  distinct  vessels,  hence  a  single 
meal  will  suffice  its  appetite  for  more  than  a  year  ! 

The  Cirrhipoda  are  marine  animals,  and  are  usually 
found  attached  to  rocks.  It  is  inclosed  in  a  multivalve 
shell,  and  was  formerly  ranked  with^Molluscans.  There 


FOSSIL   SHELL- ANIMALS.  227 

are  two  families,  and  several  varieties  are  found  in  the 
Tertiary  and  oolite  rocks.  The  species  Balanus,  Acastra, 
Corunola,  etc.,  belong  to  one  family;  while  Anatifa,  Pol- 
licipes,  and  Aptychus  are  characteristic  of  another. 

The  Crustacea  comprises  a  lajge,  varied,  and  numerous 
/lass,  which  is  arranged  into  eight  orders.  The  skeleton 
is  in  the  form  of  an  external  crust,  exuded  from  the  ves- 
sels of  the  skin,  and  hardened  with  carbonate  and  phos- 
phate of  lime.  At  certain  periods  this  crust  is  thrown 
off,  to  permit  the  growth  of  a  new  one.  The  crabs  and 
lobsters  are  true  types  of  the  class  ;  but  it  comprehends 
all  animals  with  articulated  feet,  a  heart  for  circulation, 
and  branchiae  for  respiration.  Their  feet  comprise  at 
least  six,  and  their  eyes  three  in  number — the  latter  oc- 
curring as  simple  lenses,  or  comprising  a  number  of  com- 
pound lenses. 

The  order  Isopoda  is  represented  by  the  common  wood- 
louse,  which  have  been  found  fossil  in  amber  ;  but  a  large 
number  of  marine  and  terrestrial  gefcera  occur  in  the 
wealden  and  Tertiary  beds  of  Europe.  The  .order  De- 
copoda  comprises  the  prawns,  shrimps,  and  craw-fish  now 
living  ;  and  other  families  are  represented  by  the  lobsters 
and  crabs.  Of  the  prawn  family,  more  than  a  dozen 
genera  occur  in  the  upper  lias ;  while  of  the  lobster,  or 
Astacidce  group,  some  ten  or  more  are  found  in  a  fossil 
state.  All  these  animals  are  still  so  numerous  and  uni- 
versally diffused  over  the  earth,  that  no  description  of 
them  is  required. 

The  order  Cyproida  are  microscopic  creatures,  inclosed 
in  bivalve  shells,  united  by  a  hinge  on  the  back.  They 
can  close  the  valve  entirely,  and  protrude  the  feet  at 
pleasure.  There  are  five  fossil  genera  known,  some  of 
which  existed  during  the  Silurian  era,  while  certain 
species  still  survive  in  our  seas.  The  remains  of  Cypris 


228  THE   FIFTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

were  extremely  abundant  in  the  fresh- water  strata  of  the 
wealden. 

"The  order  Trilolrites,"  says  Dr.  Richardson,  "had  the 
carapace  composed  of  several  rings,  divided  into  three 
lobes  by  two  lateral  depressions.  The  number  of  thoracic 
segments  varies  from  five  to  twenty.  The  lateral  lobes 
of  the  anterior  segment  support  the  eyes,  which  are  pro- 
minent and  compressed,  and  are  often  preserved  in  the 
fossils  in  a  high  state  of  perfection.  Their  feet  were 
membranous.  Many  of  them  had  the  power  of  rolling 
themselves  into  a  ball.  They  all  belonged  to  the  paleozoic 
era.  They  lived  in  numerous  families  and  presented  an 
immense  association  of  individuals,  but  were  much  re- 
stricted in  the  number  of  genera  and  species.  They  are 
arranged  into  six  families — the  Asaphidce,  Calymenidce, 
Harperidce,  Olenidce,  Odoniopleuridce,  and  Ogygidce.  The 
two  first  named  could  roll  themselves  into  a  ball,  a  feature 
which  usually  distinguishes  their  fossils  from  those  of  the 
others." 

The  Arachnida,  or  spiders,  comprise  a  numerous  class. 
Koch  and  Berenathave  described  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
three  species,  belonging  to  fifty  genera,  of  which  thirteen 
are  extinct,  while  none  are  identical  with  those  still  living. 
There  are  but  few  fossil  specimens  in  the  older  rocks ;  but 
the  presence  of  Cyclopihalmus,  a  genus  of  the  scorpion, 
in  the  carboniferous  stage  of  Bohemia,  proves  that  the 
class  was  represented  in  the  fauna  of  the  primary  epoch, 
and  supplies  another  link  to  the  chain  of  evidence  that  the 
flora  of  the  coal  resembled  that  now  growing  in  tropical 
regions.  Fossil  spiders  are  also  found  in  the  amber  of 
Prussia. 

The  web  which  the  common  spider  constructs,  shows 
it  to  be  alike  cunning,  cruel,  ingenious,  and  persevering. 
Their  first  effort  is  to  throw  out  a  cable,  stretching  from 
one  object  or  abutment  to  another.  After  this  they  pro- 


FOSSIL   WORMS  AND  INSECTS.  229 

ceed  to  form  a  series  of  radiating  spokes,  which  they 
afterwards  strengthen  and  join  together  by  means  of  trans- 
verse lines,  which  increase  in  width  and  length  from  the 
centre,  where  the  animal  takes  up  his  position,  and  watches 
for  his  prey.  As  soon  as  a  fly  runs  against  it,  his  wings 
and  sticky  limbs  become  fastened  in  the  fabric,  and  he 
flutters  in  vain  to  escape.  In  the  mean  time,  his  victim 
is  scarcely  secured,  before  the  spider  with  great  swiftness 
pounces  upon  it,  and  bears  it  off  to  his  central  station, 
where  it  is  leisurely  devoured.  The  exterior  body  of  the 
spider  is  furnished  with  a  reel,  upon  which  his  delicate 
yarn  is  spun  as  rapidly  as  it  is  woven.  His  limbs  serve 
the  purpose  of  a  measure  when  constructing  his  net, 
which  is  always  built  according  to  the  most  exact  geo 
metrical  proportions.  The  spider  "knows  no  such  word  as 
fail."  No  matter  how  often  its  webs  may  be  destroyed, 
he  will  rebuild  them  with  renewed  energy — sometimes 
rolling  up  and  cleaning  old  material  to  be  again  employed 
in  new  enterprises. 

The  Myriapoda  are  represented  by  centipedes,  which 
have  a  body  composed  of  twenty-four  feet.  The  scorpion 
of  Europe  belongs  to  the  order,  and  attains  a  very  high 
development  in  Asia,  where  it  is  called  a  land  lobster. 
They  conceal  themselves  under  stones  and  old  walls,  and 
are  distinguished  for  their  fatal  assaults  upon  each  other. 
Extinct  genera  have  been  found  in  the  same  rocks  with 
the  spiders. 

The  class  Insecta  embraces  an  almost  innumerable 
variety  of  genera  and  species,  which  it  would  require  vol- 
umes adequately  to  describe.  The  distinguishing  genuine 
features  are  indicated  in  the  annexed  table,  to*  which  we 
shall  add  some  brief  descriptions,  principally  collated  from 
Bucknell's  Natural  History,  an  English  work  of  two  vol- 
umes, which  has  been  of  material  service  to  us  in  the  de- 
partment of  which  it  treats  : 


230  THE   FIFTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

CURVIER'S   TWELVE    ORDERS    OF   INSECTS. 

Common  nani^s 

Classical  names  of  genera  and 

of  orders.  General  habits,  features,  and  character.  species. 

(  Insects  which  have  more  than  six  feet,  ur-  ^       Millepeds, 
Myriopoda.<      ranged  on  the  body  in  a  series  of  rings,  > hundred  legs, 
(      without  wings,  but  many  jaws,  such  as  )  etc. 
(  Insects  with  six  feet,  the  belly  furnished  on  ~) 

Tl>t/-ianoura.<      the  sides  with  false  feet  or  appendnges  >    Paclura,  etc. 
(      for  leaping,  without  wings  or  jaws,  such  as  ) 

n         .       (Parasites,  having  six  feet,  with  suckers,  \T. 
Parasita.^       but  no  jaws  or  wing8>  such  as f  Lice,  et 

( Suckers   with    six   feet,   and   sucker-like  } 
Suctoria.<      mouth,  but  neither  wings  nor  jaws,  as  >  Fleas,  eto. 

(      the ) 

{"Insects  having  six  feet,  four  wings,  (two  ^ 

Ovleoptera. <      upper  case-formed,  and  two  lower  fold-  > Beetles,  etc. 
(      ed,)  and  jaws,  as  the , ) 

V  Locusts,  etc. 

wings,  the  two  }  Cochineal  in- 
lal  consistence,  a  sucker,  >     sects,   bed- 
jut  any  wings,  }      bugs,  etc. 

Mr^fera.|Ina^Cdts.a^gth   six   feet>  four  equ&1   wings' i  Dragon-flies. 
Insects  with  six  feet,  four  unequal  wings,  \  Bees,    wasps, 

Le   'do  -f  ^-nsects  w^^  s^x  ^eet'  f°ur  Powdery  wings,  )  Butterflies    & 

;/>^era.{InS®CtgdYUh  /*    feet'    withbtw^    Yin°s  istylops. 

(  Insects   with    six   feet,   two   membranous  )  ,-, 
<•!      ...:_„..   .,„.,„!,„_  i_r_^  i >  Gnats  A  flies. 


(  Insects  with  six  feet,  four 
Hemiptera.<      upper  of  unequal  consiste 
(^      but  no  jaws  —  some  witho 


The  Diptera,  embracing  the  various  families  of  flies  and 
gnats,  are  too  well  known  to  require  further  description 
than  that  contained  in  the  foregoing  table.  They  undergo 
a  complete  metamorphosis  from  their  larval  to  their  ma- 
ture condition,  and  their  power  of  reproduction  is  truly 
wonderful.  The  gnat  deposites  her  eggs  in  water,  each 
brood  havihg  from  two  to  three  or  four  hundred.  The 
common  flies  are  sometimes  concealed  in  ova,  while  others 
are  brought  forth  alive.  Those  found  in  cheese  have  the 
singular  faculty  of  leaping  to  a  considerable  distance. 
The  insect  limestones  of  the  lower  and  upper  lias  of  Glou- 


THE   INSECT   WORLD.  231 

cestershire,  and  those  of  Oxford  and  the  wealden  beds  of 
England,  and  of  Solenhofen  in  Germany,  contain  beautiful 
specimens  of  the  wings  of  flies.  Many  are  also  preserved 
in  the  Tertiary  rocks,  and  entire  specimens  occur  in 
amber. 

The  order  of  Lepidoptera  is  mainly  distinguished  by 
caterpillars,  or  the  silk-worm,  one  of  the  most  important 
and  remarkable  insects  in  the  entire  class.  It  feeds  upon 
the  leaves  of  the  mulberry,  but  many  other  caterpillars 
feed  upon  the  leaves  of  oaks,  and  other  forest  trees,  and 
sometimes  destroy  the  foliage  of  vast  groves  and  forests 
in  a  single  season.  The  silk-worm  envelops  itself  in 
minute  silken  threads,  of  a  bright  yellow  color,  in  the 
form  of  a  ball  or  cocoon,  very  much  resembling  in  form  a 
pigeon's  egg.  It  remains  inclosed  in  the  cocoon  for  fif- 
teen days,  and  then  eats  its  way  out ;  but  in  cocooneries 
for  the  production  of  silk,  this  habit  is  anticipated,  and 
the  animal  inhabiting  the  cocoon  is  destroyed  by  heat 
The  silk  of  the  cocoon  is  afterward  reeled,  and  theivwoven 
into  fabrics  of  every  possible  form.  Each  cocoon  usually 
produces  a  thread  four  hundred  yards  in  length.* 

Of  butterflies  and  moths,  there  is  an  infinite  variety,  all 
undergoing  similar  transformations  from  birth  to  matu- 
rity. The  moths  are  well  known  in  consequence  of  their 
destructive  effects  upon  cloths  and  furs,  and  which,  from 

*  Efforts  were  made  a  few  years  ago  to  introduce  the  manufacture  of 
cilk  into  the  United  States,  and  it  was  inaugurated  with  an  extraordinary 
movement  in  the  planting  of  the  morns  nnilficanlis,  the  vegetable  upon 
the  leaves  of  which  the  caterpillar  feeds.  The  experiment  was  overdone, 
and  the  speculation  burst  suddenly,  like  a  bubble,  involving  many  in 
heavy  pecuniary  losses.  A  few  establishments,  however,  continued  in 
operation,  and  that  of  Mr.  Gill,  in  Wheeling,  Va.,  wns  operated  for  many 
years  with  considerable  success.  That  gentleman  produced  from  his 
factory  some  of  the  finest  silk  goods  in  the  American  market;  but  wo 
believe  the  enterprise,  after  a  trial  of  ten  or  fifteen  years,  was  finally 
abandoned. 


232  THE   FIFTH   DAY—GEOLOGICAL. 

their  larvae,  become  caterpillars  in  fifteen  days.  They  are 
provided  with  a  long  proboscis,  coiled  in  a  spiral  form,  by 
which  they  bore  into  the  cloths,  where  they  deposit  their 
eggs.  The  lithographic  limestones  of  Solenhofen,  and 
the  Tertiaries  of  France,  contain  fossil  specimens,  both 
of  the  caterpillar  and  the  wings  of  the  butterfly. 

Hymenoptera  embrace  bees,  wasps,  and  ants  in  great 
variety  of  genera  and  species.     Of  these,  the  honey-bee  is 
the  most  important  and  the  most  curious  in  its  habits  and 
organization.    When  a  swarm  quits  an  old  hive,  it  is  com- 
posed of  one  queen,  or  female  bee,  several  hundred  males, 
or    drones,    and    many  thousand   workers,   or    neuters. 
Should  there  happen  to  be  two  or  more  queens,  a  mur- 
derous conflict  ensues,  the  swarm  remaining  with  the 
victor.     In  a  new  hive,  they  divide  themselves  into  four 
parties — one  of  which  rove  the  fields  in  search  of  mate- 
rials, another  lay  the  foundation  of  the  cells,  a  third  polish 
and  finish  what  the  others  have  begun,  and  a  fourth  bring 
home  food  for  themselves  and  for  those  laboring  upon  the 
hive.    Things  being  thus  arranged,  the  queen  bee  becomes 
fecundated,  and  then  examines  the  cells  in  progress,  and 
begins  to  lay  eggs,  depositing  but  one  in  each  cell,  which 
are  of  three  kinds — the  first  and  smallest  are  intended  to 
produce  workers,  the  second  are  for  males,  and  the  others, 
limited  to  a  few  very  large  ones,  are  for  queen  bees  only. 
Several  hundred  eggs  are  generally  laid  in  a  single  day, 
and  which   become   living  Iarva3   in   four   or  six  days. 
These  are  supplied  with  food    by  the  hive-workers  or 
nurses.    When  the  larvae  are  six  days  old,  the  nurses  close 
the  cells  with  wax,  and  the  entombed  larvae  begin  to  en- 
twine themselves  with  a  silken  sheet,  and  become  nymphs. 
At  the  end  of  twelve  days,  they  break  their  inclosure,  and 
come  forth  perfect  bees.     They  are  now  cleaned  by  the 
nurses,  and  then  join  the  out-door  workers.     The  eggs  in 
the  male  cells  are  generally  about  two  months  later  than 


THE   INSECT   WORLD.  233 

those  of  the  workers,  and  the  royal  cells  are  not  even 
begun  until  the  queen  has  deposited  her  eggs  in  the  male 
cells.  The  young  queens  are  consequently  the  last 
hatched,  and  pass  through  the  same  metamorphosis  as 
the  others.  In  the  event  of  a  hive  being  deprived  of  their 
queen  by  accident,  the  workers  have  the  capacity  of  pro- 
ducing another.  This  is  done  in  the  following  extraor- 
dinary manner :  the  cells  are  examined  for  the  larvae  of 
workers  which  are  not  more  than  three  days  old.  On 
finding  such,  they  immediately  enlarge  the  cells  of  these 
larvae,  feeding  them  with  female  or  royal  jelly,  until,  by 
dint  of  care  and  labor,  a  female  is  produced  which  is  to 
replace  the  one  lost.  Besides  the  cells  for  rearing  their 
young,  others  are  made  for  the  storage  of  honey,  and 
which  is  destined  for  their  use  when  none  can  be  gathered 
from  the  flowers.  On  the  weather  becoming  cold,  not 
only  are  the  larvae  and  nymphs  destroyed,  but  the  male 
bees  also.  Having  no  stings,  like  the  workers  and 
females,  they  are  easily  massacred,  or  driven  out  of  the 
hive,  and  perish  by  the  cold.  During  the  winter  the 
whole  hive  is  in  a  state  of  half-lethargy. *  Fossil  remains 
of  bees,  wasps,  and  hornets  are  found  in  the  insect  lime- 
stones of  the  lias,  and  generally  in  the  rocks  of  the  Ter- 
tiary. 

The  common  ants  also  live  in  society,  like  bees  and 
wasps,  the  community  consisting  of  males,  females,  and 
workers  —  the  workers  always  being  without  wings. 
Their  mode  of  life  is  very  similar  to  that  of  bees,  but 
their  nests  are  constructed  in  the  ground,  or  beneath  the 
roots  of  trees.  It  consists  of  a  central  cavity,  with  com- 
municating subterranean  roads  or  galleries.  They  feed 
on  fruits,  insects,  or  carrion,  and  the  various  classes  into 
which  their  community  is  divided  always  keep  distinct 

*  Scripture  Natural  History. 


234  THE   FIFTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

In  proportion  to  size,  the  ant  is  no  doubt  the  strongest 
animal  upon  the  earth,  as  well  as  one  of  the  most  in- 
dustrious. 

The  Neuroptera  are  distinguished  for  the  dragon-fly. 
These  insects  drop  their  spawn  upon  the  surface  of  water, 
which,  on  sinking  to  the  bottom,  become  larvae.  From 
this  state  they  change  into  nymphs,  and  then  remain 
aquatic  for  two  years  or  more.  At  length  they  crawl 
out  upon  adjacent  twigs,  and  as  their  skin  dries  and 
shrinks,  wings  expand  from  their  body,  when  they  fly 
away — a  new  creature  !  There  are  several  varieties  of 
this  insect,  some  of  which  remain  many  years  in  the 
water  before  emerging  into  the  air.  In  the  ephemera,  the 
transition  from  the  aqueous  nymph  to  the  winged  insect 
is  instantaneous  after  reaching  the  surface.  - 

The  Ternietes  or  white  ants  of  India  and  Africa,  which 
are  regarded  as  a  serious  evil  in  warm  climates,  have  con- 
siderable resemblance  to  the  European  species,  but  they 
attain  a  much  superior  growth.  They  erect  nests  on  the 
surface  of  the  ground,  which  sometimes  attain  a  height 
of  ten  or  twelve  feet."  The  nests  are  very  tall,  but  slen- 
der, and  terminate  in  rounded  or  conical  peaks.  They 
are  perforated  with  galleries,  in  which  the  community, 
divided  into  various  classes,  reside — the  king  and  queen 
having  a  central  apartment  to  themselves.  Their  social 
government  resembles  that  of  man  to  a  greater  extent 
than  that  of  the  bee.  The  ant-hill  is  guarded  by  sentinels 
or  soldiers,  who  appear  to  be  specially  created  for  that 
purpose,  giving  the  alarm  to  the  communities  within  on 
the  approach  of  danger.  They  undergo  metamorphoses 
similar  to  the  other  Neuroptera,  but  it  is  rather  more  in- 
complete. They  surpass  the  bees  and  the  beavers  in 
mechanical  art,  and  fully  equal  them  in  industry.  In 
migrating,  they  observe  all  the  military  precision  of  sol- 
diers in  battalion. 


THE   INSECT   WORLD.  235 

The  order  Hemiptera  embraces  bed-bugs,  garden-bugs, 
plant-lice,  cochineals,  water-bugs,  etc.,  etc.  Some  of 
these  have  the  extraordinary  faculty  of  fecundating  their 
issue  to  the  fourth  and  fifth  generations. 

Orthoptera  are  principally  represented  by  grasshoppers 
and  locusts,  of  which  there  are  many  genera  and  species. 
Locusts  are  a  great  scourge  to  vegetation,  and  formed 
one  of  the  plagues^  visited  upon  ancient  Egypt.  In  some 
countries,  however,  the  natives  esteem  them  as  a  rare 
delicacy.  Locusts  are  rare  in  America,  but  are  supposed 
to  make  a  visit  in  great  number  about  every  seventeenth 
year.  Grasshoppers,  however,  which  belong  to  the 
Locust  family,  are  abundant,  and  are  sometimes  no  less 
destructive  to  the  crops  of  the  farmer.  They  deposit  their 
eggs  in  the  ground  in  the  fall  of  the  year,  and  lying  dor- 
mant during  the  winter,  the  warmth  of  the  sun  brings 
forth  a  wingless  insect  in  the  spring,  which,  in  the  course 
of  twenty  days,  expels  its  outer  skin,  and  then  appears 
with  wings.  The  common  cricket  is  a  member  of  the 
family. 

The  Parasita  include  fleas,  lice,  and  vermin  of  every 
description. 

The  Coleoptera  are  made  up  mainly  of  beetles,  as  the 
May-bug,  Hercules  beetle  of  South  America,  the  Glow- 
worm that,  on  summer  evenings,  lights  up  the  way-side, 
the  Undertaker  beetle,  etc.,  etc. — the  latter  so-called,  be- 
cause it  buries  the  bodies  of  other  insects  and  worms. 
These  animals  were  represented  at  the  close  of  the  paleo- 
zoic period,  and  their  fossils  occur  in  the  carboniferous 
rocks.  Indeed,  nearly  all  the  orders  thus  enumerated  have 
their  fossil  remains  strewn  in  the  various  strata,  in  greater 
or  less  abundance,  from  that  early  era  to  the  present  time  ; 
but  there  has  been  a  constant  variation  of  species  in  par- 
ticular eras,  as  the  genera  now  living  are,  in  a  great 


236  THE   FIFTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

measure,  different  from  previous  geological  stages,  and 
yet  present  specimens  that  appertained  to  each. 

Such  is  a  brief  and  necessarily  cursory  survey  of  that 
portion  of  the  animal  kingdom,  comprising  its  more  min- 
ute creatures — creatures  which,  often  unseen,  yet  fill  the 
seas,  the  earth,  and  the  air.  The  three  great  divisions 
of  the  Radiata,  Mollusca,  and  Articulata  comprise  many 
thousand  species,  and  many  of  their  principal  genera 
present  more  living  creatures  than  those  of  the  vertebrata, 
including  man,  combined ! 

Now,  notwithstanding  the  low  origin  and  humble  nature 
of  its  animals,  and  the  comparatively  few  specimens  out- 
side of  the  Radiata  and  Mollusca,  which  it  affords,  many 
geologists,  indeed  nearly  all  of  them,  give  more  promi- 
nence as  well  as  priority  of  existence  to  the  aqueous 
fauna  of  the  Paleozoic  period,  than  to  its  wonderful  and 
prolific  flora.  In  other  words,  the  Mollusca,  Radiata, 
and  Fish  of  the  Silurian  and  Devonian  eras,  are  recog- 
nized as  overshadowing  the  vegetation  of  the  coal  period ! 
And  it  is  also  claimed  that  animal  life  preceded  vegetable 
life,  and  that,  therefore,  the  Bible  is  again  incorrect.  I 
have  already  remarked  that  such  an  arrangement  is  alto- 
gether unjustifiable,  besides  being  in  conflict  with  Reve- 
lation, and  the  obvious  course  of  nature.  It  may  be 
granted,  as  our  table  will  show,  that  during  the  Devonian 
and  carboniferous  eras,  there  was  a  considerable  develop- 
ment of  the  lower  orders  of  animal  life,  including  speci- 
mens of  Sauroid  fishes.  All  these  flourished  to  some 
extent,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  table,  during  the  Silurian 
period,  but  it  was  utterly  impossible  that  they  could  have 
existed  in  the  previous  metamorphic  seas,  when  these 
were  periodically,  if  not  constantly  disturbed  and  heated 
by  the  transition  of  the  rocks.  It  is  true  the  whole  ex- 
panse of  waters  may  not  have  been  heated  at  the  same 
time.  The -effect  may  have  been  more  local  than  general; 


VEGETABLE   PRECEDING   ANIMAL   LIFE.  237 

but  in  cither  case  its  duration  was  constant.  The  heat, 
however,  was  always  operating  in  the  shallow  places — 
always  tending  to  elevate  the  bottom  of  lakes  and  marine 
basins ;  and  those  are  the  very  places  where  animal  life 
could  alone  exist — the  pressure  of  the  water,  in  mid  ocean, 
forbidding  its  existence  there.  We  have,  then,  a  limit — a 
positive  barrier  of  heat  and  boiling  water,  beyond  which  it 
is  impossible  that  animal  life  could  have  existed,  either  on 
the  land  or  in  the  sea.  This  limit,  too,  may  be  found  to 
extend  further  into  the  Silurian  rocks  than  is  now  gene- 
rally conceded.  In  fact,  the  fossil  specimens  thus  far 
found  in  the  lower  strata  of  those  rocks  are  so  few  and 
obscure,  that  it  would  be  prudent  not  to  place  too  much 
reliance  upon  them.  Some  specimens  may^  yet  prove  to 
be  no  more  ancient  than  the  great  Cobham  stone  dis- 
covered by  Mr.  Pickwick.  Of  Radiata,  we  may  observe 
that  there  are  thus  far  one  hundred  and  twelve  species  in 
all  the  Silurian  strata,  and  only  nine  in  the  Magnesian 
limestone  above  ;  while  in  the  intermediate  Carboniferous 
and  Devonian  strata  there  are  over  three  hundred  species. 
The  proportion  of  Mollusca  is  still  more  varied — there 
being  nearly  two  thousand  species  in  the  last-mentioned 
periods,  while  those  before  and  after  have  less  than  eight 
hundred.  And  notwithstanding  that  creatures  half  fish 
and  half  saurian  flourished  somewhat  plentifully  during 
portions  of  all  these  eras,  it  does  not  lessen  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  fact  that  animal  existence,  as  a  whole,  was 
mainly  represented  by  the  Radiata  and  the  Mollusca — 
the  two  lowest  divisions  in  the  scale. 

But  that  animal  life  of  a  strictly  terrestrial  and  of  an 
infinitely  higher  order  exists  in  the  juices  of  vegetation, 
at  the  present  time,  is  a  fact  which  nobody  will  be  likely 
to  controvert.  Every  woodman  has  observed,  on  splitting 
open  the  solid  trunks  of  trees,  the  cut- worms  and  bugs 
which  inhabit  their  centre.  The  worms  inhabiting  the 


238  THE   FIFTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

cores  of  apples,  pears,  peaches,  and  other  fruits,  doubtless, 
enter  from  the  outside ;  but  they  are  always  hatched  in 
the  juices  they  feed  upon.  Those  found  in  the  interior 
of  walnuts,  chestnuts,  and  similar  nuts,  must  originate 
there,  and  in  fact  constitute  a  portion  of  their  oily  sub- 
stance, as  .maggots  do  that  of  cheese.  Certain  kinds  of 
trees  generate  worms  and  bugs  peculiar  to  them ;  and 
they  are  often  so  plentifully  diffused  as  to  utterly  destroy 
the  timber  which  they  ravage.  Hemlock  breeds  bed-bugs ; 
while  oak,  chestnut  and  hickory  abound  in  cut-worms, 
borers,  and  crawling  ants,  which  operate  internally  and 
externally,  and  appear  to  be  inseparable  from  them. 
Other  trees  attract,  if  they  do  not  generate  caterpillars, 
which,  feasting  upon  their  leaves,  multiply  to  such  an 
extent,  that  they  exhaust  the  vitality  of  large  numbers  in 
a  single  season.  This  may  be  seen  particularly  in  trees 
of  dense  foliage,  selected  to  ornament  private  grounds. 
Weevils  and  grasshoppers  originate  in  the  crops  of  the 
farmer,  and  so  destructive  are  their  depredations  that  the 
product  of  entire  plantations  not  unfrequently  falls  a 
sacrifice  to  their  unappeasable  appetites !  In  like  manner, 
certain  species  of  borers  attack  the  timbering  of  vessels, 
especially  the  submerged  portion,  and  it  often  happens 
that  they  are  utterly  ruined  by  their  perforations.  During 
the  Crimean  war,  over  one  hundred  and  twenty  vessels 
were  sunk  by  order  of  the  Russians  in  the  harbor  of  Se- 
bastopol.  After  the  war  terminated,  arrangements  were 
made  for  raising  these  vessels  ;  but  it  was  found  that  this 
marine  teredo  had,  in  the  mean  time,  so  completely  per- 
forated the  solid  timbering,  that  many  of  them  were 
worthless,  and  unfit  for  use.  The  timbers  were,  in  some 
instances,  bored  in  such  a  manner  as  to  resemble  the  cel- 
lular structure  of  a  sponge.  The  existence  of  worms  in 
timber,  and  in  the  body  of  fruits  and  nuts,  can  perhaps 
only  be  accounted  for  on  the  supposition  that  their  larv» 


VEGETABLE   PRECEDING    ANIMAL   LIFE.  239 

or  spawi^  in  the  form  of  minute  microscopic  infusions, 
exists  primarily  in  the  water  which  the  plants  themselves 
absorb  in  their  pores  and  cavities,  and  where  they  are  sub- 
sequently developed. 

But  whether  the  origin  of  the  parasitic,  microscopic,  and 
coral  animals  be  due  to  or  associated  with  the  primitive 
vegetation  or  not,  is  a  matter  of  no  particular  conse- 
quence in  reference  to  the  priority  of  the  one  over  the 
other — since  we  have  the  most  conclusive  evidence  of  the 
existence  of  vegetation  during  the  metamorphic  period, 
when,  by  reason  of  sub-marine  heat,  it  was  utterly  im- 
possible that  aquatic  life  could  have  existed.  The  coal 
and  graphite  of  Rhode  Island,  of  Scandinavia,  of  Cuba, 
and  of  portions  of  France  and  Germany  sufficiently  demon- 
strate the  relation  which  the  ancient  forests  bore  to  the 
rocks  of  that  period.  It  will  be  vain  and  absurd  to  sug- 
gest that  all  these  are  merely  altered  Silurians  or  Devo- 
nians. They  are  true  metamorphic  rocks,  occurring  in 
their  proper  positions,  and  exhibiting  all  the  external  evi- 
dence of  rocks  belonging  to  that  group.  Nor  do  I  stand 
alone  in  this  opinion.  Several  geologists  of  distinction 
have  intimated  similar  views,  but  have  not  expressed  them 
with  the  boldness  which  the  circumstances  warrant.  It 
is,  however,  time  to  vindicate  the  truth  of  the  Mosaic 
record ;  and  when  a  fact  has  significance  beyond  and 
apart  from  geological  inquiry,  it  should  not  be  tampered 
with  in  half-suppressed  doubts  and  misgivings.  It  is 
either  a  fact  or  it  is  not — it  is  either  true  or  false.  If  it  is 
a  fact  in  geology  that  vegetation  preceded  animal  life,  both 
in  the  water  and  the  dry  land,  it  deserves  to  be  known.  I 
say  it  is  a  fact ;  and  I  have  thus  given  my  reasons.  I 
say  it  is  also  a  fact — overwhelming  and  palpable — that 
vegetation  distinguished  the  whole  Paleozoic  period,  and 
far  surpassed  in  extent  and  universality  the  animal  crea- 
tures that  nourished  in  its  seas.  These  two  great  trut 


16  _ 


it* 


240  THE   FIFTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

once  admitted  in  Geology,  there  is  no  longer  any  serious 
embarrassment  to  its  reconciliation  with  the  simple  narra- 
tive of  Revelation.  And  it  was  with  the  conviction  of 
the  perfect  harmony  between  them,  when  properly  under- 
stood, that  I  have  bestowed  so  much  time  and  space  to 
the  investigation  which  the  subject  involves. 

Although  the  intervening  fourth  day  was  characterized 
by  violent  and  extensive  volcanic  action,  by  the  elevation 
of  vast  systems  of  mountains,  and  by  the  change  of  sea 
into  land,  it  was  yet  not  a  geological  but  more  properly 
an  astronomical  period,  as  Moses  himself  has  indicated. 
Geologists  generally,  in  speculating  on  the  revealed  Cos- 
mogony, appear  to  overlook  this  great  fact.  They  treat 
all  days  in  the  light  of  geological  phenomena,  and  thus 
construe  plain  facts  into  the  most  unwarrantable  infer- 
ences and  assumptions.  Some  writers  make  the  geologic 
days  as  short  as  those  of  Jupiter  or  Saturn.  The  Silu- 
rian and  Devonian ;  the  Carboniferous ;  the  Saliferous ; 
the  Oolitic ;  the  Cretaceous ;  the  Tertiary ;  the  Quarter- 
nary,  or  Historic  period  ;  all  these  are  sometimes  erected 
into  Mosaic  days,  notwithstanding  that  the  rocks  and 
fossils  of  some  of  them  do  not  occur  in  certain  portions 
of  the  earth,  and  nowhere  in  regular  superimposed  order! 
The  Astronomical  days,  in  the  mean  time,  are  unaccounted 
for !  Now,  these  are  the  kind  of  writers  whose  skill 
in  technical  nomenclature  enables  them  to  conceai  their 
stupidity,  and  to  impose  on  the  confiding  world,  under  the 
name  of  science,  the  most  shameless  trash  which  the  pro- 
lific invention  of  dabsters  in  tautology  can  indite. 

The  Secondary  formation  which  we  are  now  considering, 
comprehends  a  large  number  of  layers  of  rock,  classed 
into  inferior  systems,  but  under  so  many  different  names 
and  local  variations,  that  it  is  no  easy  matter  to  define 
their  specific  features.  It,  however,  begins  with  the  new 
red  sandstone  strata  j  and  although  some  geologists,  under 


THE   NEW   KED   SANDSTONE.  241 

the  name  of  Permian,  assign  two  of  its  principal  groups 
to  the  Paleozoic  period,  from  the  seeming  identity  of  their 
fossils,  yet  others,  with  equal  propriety,  group  them  all 
together,  and  style  them  collectively  the  new  red  sand- 
stone, Triassic  or  Saliferous  systems.  The  latter  name 
is  bestowed  in  consequence  of  the  numerous  deposits  of 
rock-salt  and  brine  springs  found  in  these  rocks;  but 
they  will  perhaps  be  better  understood  by  most  persons  in 
the  United  States  by  the  appellation  of  new  red  sandstone, 
in  contradistinction  to  the  old  red  sandstone,  over  the  up- 
tilted  beds  of  which  they  often  occur  unconformably,  or 
in  a  horizontal  position — thus  pointing  out  a  difference 
in  their  ages,  and  indicating  the  disturbance  which  over- 
turned the  old  red  before  the  new  red  was  deposited. 
Including  the  Permian  rocks,  the  new  red  sandstone 
system  comprises :  1.  red  sandstone;  2.  magnesian  lime- 
stone, (including  calcareous  conglomerate  marble,  of 
which  large  deposits  extend  across  Pennsylvania,  Mary- 
land, and  New  Jersey  ;)  3.  Variegated  sandstone  ;  4.  Mus- 
chelkalk,  seldom  found  in  these  measures  outside  of 
Germany;  and  5.  variegated  marls.  These  rocks  are 
generally  of  marine  origin,  and  their  usefulness  to  man,  in 
supplying  vast  quantities  of  salt,  which  is  absolutely  in- 
dispensable to  human  life,  and  in  domestic  economy, 
cannot  be  over-estimated.  It  is  not,  however,  an  accom- 
paniment of  our  American  sandstones ;  on  the  contrary, 
all  the  salt  mines  with  which  we  are  acquainted  are  in 
older  rocks.  Those  of  Rochester,  in  New  York,  are  in 
Silurian  strata  ;  while  on  the  western  slope  of  the  Alle- 
ghany,  along  the  Kiskiminetas,  the  Ohio,  and  Kanawha, 
in  Virginia,  salt  is  very  abundant  under  the  coal  measures. 
In  the  last  mentioned  region,  the  salt-borings  have  in 
several  places  also  tapped  reservoirs  of  illuminating  gas 
and  liquid  oil.  This  gas  is  collected  on  the  surface,  and 
applied  to  the  evaporation  of  the  salt  of  the  brine.  The 


242  THE    FIFTH    PAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

new  red  sandstone  of  the  Alleghany  is  derived  mainly 
from  the  disintegration  of  the  old  red  sandstone,  underly- 
ing the  coal.  When  the  mountains  were  elevated,  the 
salt  was  not  transferred  to  the  new  rocks,  as  it  probably 
had  been  at  other  places;  but  was  retained  where  origi- 
nally deposited,  and  where  it  had  crystallized  during  the 
heat  which  elevated  the  coal.  Under  these  circumstances 
it  could  not  be  drained  off  to  the  shallow  estuaries  of  the 
new  red  sandstone,  lying  principally  on  the  eastern  slope 
of  the  mountain.  There  was  an  elevated  axis  which  pre- 
vented this.  They  were  therefore  formed  without  the 
salt,  to  which  they  were  otherwise  entitled  by  natural 
drainage.  The  waters  of  the  ocean,  although  they  were 
in  constant  proximity,  could  not  supply  the  deficiency, 
because  the  lakes  were  not  shallow  enough  to  effect  the 
speedy  evaporation.  The  ocean,  therefore,  in  surging 
over  the  sandstone  shores  and  lakes,  lost  little  of  his  salt- 
ness;  and  comparatively  few  of  his  animal  creatures — for 
the  American  sandstones  are  almost  as  poor  in  one  as  the 
other.  But  if  deficient  in  these,  they  furnish  inexhaustible 
quantities  of  superior  and  beautiful  building  material. 
Impregnated  and  colored  with  th~e  oxyd  of  iron,  the 
"brown  stone"  of  this  group  has  been  very  extensively 
employed,  during  the  last  twenty  years,  in  the  Atlantic 
cities  of  America.  It  is  perfectly  homogeneous  in  com- 
position, and  is  readily  carved  into  the  most  elaborate 
designs  of  architectural  ornament.  In  England,  the  mag- 
nesian  limestone  or  marble  has  furnished  the  material  of 
which  the  •  new  houses  of  Parliament  are  constructed. 
This  stone,  when  found  crystalline  in  structure,  is  one  of 
the  most  imperishable  in  the  earth  ;  and  it  is  somewhat 
singular  that,  with  its  abundance  in  the  vicinity  of  many 
of  our  populous  cities,  its  merits  in  the  United  States 
should  have  been  comparatively  overlooked.  Gypsum 


THE   NEW    RED    SANDSTONE.  243 

(sulphate  of  lime)  a  species  of  alabaster  or  soft  statuary 
marble  also  occurs,  but  sparingly,  in  this  group. 

There  was,  upon  the  whole,  a  very  considerable  diminu- 
tion, both  of  animal  and  vegetable  life,  as  compared  with 
the  periods  preceding — but  more  especially  of  the  vege- 
tation. The  only  positive  increase  was  in  sea-weeds, 
(fucoides)  which 'expanded  in  some  regions  to  an  enor- 
mous extent.  The  terrestrial  vegtation  was  represented 
by  the  resinous  pines  of  the  coal,  but  under  circumstances 
unfavorable  to  the  formation  of  that  mineral,  though  it 
must  not  be  overlooked  that  both  anthracite  and  plumbago 
are  often  found  in  small  detached  seams  and  deposits  in 
these  rocks.  All  the  other  varieties  which  distinguished 
the  coal  period,  as  Lepidodendria,  Sigillaria,  Stigmaria, 
and  the  Equiseta,  had  wholly  disappeared,  and  mere  traces 
of  calamites,  cycadea,  palms,  ferns,  and  mosses  are  to  be 
found  in  them.  Of  the  Radiata  there  was  also  a  great 
decrease ;  but  the  Mollusca  were  tolerably  well  represented. 
The  Articulata  were  represented  sparingly  by  serpula  and 
scorpions,  trilobites  and  macrocus,  but  no  annelides  or 
insects  proper.  Of  the  vertebrata,  fishes  were  somewhat 
numerous,  as  well  as  sauroid  animals  of  a  peculiar  type. 

In  1834,  an  account  was  published  in  Europe  of  some 
remarkable  fossil  footmarks  in  the  new  red  sandstone,  at 
Hessberg,  in  Saxony.  Accounts  of  these  impressions 
have  been  given  by  Drs.  Hohnbaum  and  Sickfer,  Prof. 
Kaup,  Mons.  Link,  and  the  late  Baron  Humboldt.  The 
largest  track  was  supposed  to  have  been  made  by  a  mar- 
supial animal,  whose  hind  foot  was  eight  inches  long. 
This  animal,  Prof.  Kaup  named  Cheirotherium,  from  the 
resemblance  of  its  track  to  a  human  hand.  Some  of  the 
tracks  appear  to  have  been  made  by  tortoises ;  and  M. 
Link,  who  has  made  out  four  distinct  species  from  the 
tracks,  suggests  that  some  of  them  may  have  been  made 


244  THE   FIFTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

by  gigantic  Batraeians — frogs,  salamanders,  etc.*  Mr. 
Owen  has  suggested  that  the  tracks  referred  to  the 
Cheirotherium,  were  made  by  a  gigantic  Batracian,  or 
frog,  whose  hind  feet  were  much  larger  than  his  fore  feet. 
He  has  given  an  ideal  sketch  of  the  animal  restored,  the 
bones  of  whose  head  only  have  been  discovered,  and  of 
the  manner  in  which  the  tracks  might  have  been  made 
Prof.  Hitchcock  differs  with  Mr.  Owen,  and  thinks  the 
tracks  are  those  of  a  marsupial,  whose  hind  legs  are  con- 
siderably longer  than  those  in  front.  In  1847,  Prof. 
Plieninger,  of  Stuttgart,  published  a  description  of  two 
fossil  molar  teeth,  referred  by  him  to  a  warm-blooded 
quadruped,  which  he  obtained  from  a  bone-breccia  in 
Wurtemberg,  occurring  in  the  upper  beds  of  the  new  red 
sandstone,  in  Germany  called  Keuper.  These  beds  are 
1,000  feet  thick,  and  comprise  sandstones,  gypsums,  and 
carbonaceous  slate-clay.  Remains  of  Reptiles,  called 
Nothosaurus  and  Phytosaurus  have  been  found  in  it  with 
the  fragmentary  bones  of  Owen's  Labyrinthodon  ;  also 
detached  teeth  of  placoid  fish  and  of  rays.  From  the 
double  fangs  of  the  tooth  found  by  Plieninger,  and  their 
unequal  size,  and  from  the  number  of  the  protuberances 
or  cusps  on  the  flat  crowns,  he  inferred  that  it  was  the 
molar  of  a  Mammifer,  and  considering  it  as  predaceous, 
probably  insectivorous,  he  named  the  supposed  animal 
Microlextes,  (a  little  beast  of  prey).  Previous  to  this 
discovery  of  the  German  Professor,  the  most  ancient  of 
known  mammalia  were  those  of  the  English  Stonesficld 
slate,  a  subdivision  of  the  lower  oolite.  In  the  dolomitic 
conglomerates  of  England,  remains  of  two  distinct  genera 
of  reptiles  have  been  found,  called  Thecodontosaurus  and 
Palseosaurus,  the  teeth  of  which  are  conical,  compressed, 
and  with  finely  serrated  edges.  These  saurians,  (which, 

Buckland,  BrMgewater  Treatise. 


FOOTPRINTS   IN   OLD   RED  SANDSTONE.  245 

until  the  discovery  of  the  Archegosaurus  in  the  coal,  were 
regarded  as  the  most  ancient  examples  of  fossil  reptiles,) 
are  all  distinguished  by  having  the  teeth  implanted  in  the 
jaw-bone,  and  in  distinct  sockets,  instead  of  being  soldered, 
as  in  frogs,  to  a  simple  alveolar  parapet.  Both  these 
families  occur  in  the  Trias  of  Germany.  In  1844,  the  first 
skeleton  of  a  true  reptile  was  found  in  the  coal  measures 
of  Munster-Appel,  in  Rhenish  Bavaria,  and  described  by 
H.  von  Meyer,  under  the  name  of  Apateon  pedestris,  the  ^ 
animal  being  regarded  as  nearly  related  to  the  salaman- 
ders. In  184*7,  Prof.  Yon  Dechen  found  in  the  coal-field 
of  Saarbruck,  the  skeletons  of  three  distinct  species  of 
air-breathing  reptiles,  which  were  described  by  Prof. 
Goldfuss,  under  the  generic  name  of  Archegosaurus. 
They  were  considered  by  Goldfuss  as  saurians,  but  by 
Von  Meyer  as  allied  to  the  Labyrinthodon,  and  therefore 
connected  with  the  batracians,  as  well  as  the  lizards.  In 
1844,  the  very  year  that  Yon  Meyer  introduced  his 
Apateon  or  salamander,  Dr.  King  published  an  account 
of  the  foot-prints  of  a  large  reptile  discovered  by  him  in 
the  coal  measures  near  Greensburg,  in  Westmorland 
county,  Pennsylvania.  These  footprints  were  examined 
by  Prof.  Lyell,  while  on  a  visit  to  this  State,  in  1846. 
"  I  was  at  once  convinced  of  their  genuineness,"  says  the 
distinguished  geologist,  "and  declared  my  conviction  on 
that  point,  on  which  doubts  had  been  entertained  both  in 
Europe  and  the  United  States.  The  footmarks  were  first 
observed  standing  out  in  relief  from  the  lower  surface  of 
slabs  of  sandstone,  resting  on  thin  layers  of  fine  unctuous 
clay.  I  brought  away  one  of  these  masses.  It  displays, 
together  with  footprints,  the  casts  of  cracks  of  various 
sizes.  The  origin  of  such  cracks  in  clay,  and  casts  of  the 
same,  has  before  been  explained,  and  referred  to  the  dry- 
ing and  shrinking  of  mud,  and  the  subsequent  pouring  of 
gand  into  open  crevices.  Some  of  the  cracks  traverse  the 


246  THE   FIFTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

footprints,  and  produce  distortion  in  them,  as  might  have 
been  expected,  for  the  mud  must  have  been  soft  when  the 
animal  walked  over  it  and  left  the  impressions  ;  whereas, 
when  it  afterward  dried  up  and  shrank,  it  would  be  too 
hard  to  receive  such  indentations.*  No  less  than  twenty- 
three  footsteps  were  observed  by  Dr.  King  in  the  same 
quarry  before  it  was  abandoned,  the  greater  part  of  them 
so  arranged  on  the  surface  of  one  stratum  as  to  imply  that 
they  were  made  successively  by  the  same  animal.  Every- 
where there  was  a  double  row  of  tracks,  and  in  each  row 
they  occur  in  pairs,  each  pair  consisting  of  a  hind  and 
fore  foot,  and  each  being  at  nearly  equal  distances  from 
the  next  pair.  In  each  parallel  row,  the  toes  turn,  the 
one  set  to  the  right,  the  other  to  the  left.  In  the  Euro- 
pean C  heir  other  ium  (before  mentioned)  both  the  hind  and 
the  fore  feet  have  each  five  toes,  and  the  size  of  the  hind 
foot  is  about  five  times  as  large  as  the  fore  foot.  In  the 
American  fossil,  the  posterior  footprint  is  not  even  twice 
as  large  as  the  anterior,  and  the  number  of  toes  is  unequal, 
being  five  in  the  hinder,  and  four  in  the  anterior  foot. 
The  American  Cheirotherium  was  evidently  a  broader 
animal,  and  belonged  to  a  distinct  genus  from  that  of  the 
triassic  (new  red  sandstone)  age  in  Europe.  We  may 
assume  that  the  reptile  which  left  these  prints  on  the 
ancient  sands  of  the  coal  measures,  was  an  air-breather, 
because  its  weight  would  not  have  been  sufficient  under 
water  to  have  made  impressions  so  deep  and  distinct 
The  same  conclusion  is  also  borne  out  by  the  cracks  of 
the  air  and  the  sun,  so  as  to  have  dried  and  shrunk." 

These  curious  discoveries  of  Dr.  King  were  followed, 
in  1849,  by  the  discover)7"  of  similar  footprints  in  the  old 
red  sandstone  near  Pottsville,  outside  of  the  Schuylkill 
basin,  by  Isaac  Lea,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia,  who  read 

*  Sir  Charles  Lyell,  Elements  of  Geology,  p.  337. 


ME.    LEA'S   DISCOVERY   OF   FOOTPRINTS  247 

a  paper  on  the  subject  to  the  American  Philosophical 
Society,  in  June,  1849.  Mr.  Lea  has  since  published  a  ] 
description  of  the  footprints  in  magnificent  form,  illus- 
trated  with  beautifully-colored  lithographs  of  the  tracks, 
in  their  natural  size.  From  this  description  I  glean  the 
annexed  particulars  : 

"The  position  of  the  footprints  was  on  the  west  side  of  the  turnpike 
road,  about  a  mile  southeast  of  the  town  of  Pottsville,  and  a  few  hundred 
feet  below  the  Mount  Carbon  Hotel.  The  massive  sandstone  rocks  here 
are  of  a  beautiful  red  color  and  fine  texture,  evidently  formed  of  sand  and 
clay  which  has  passed  through  much  attrition.  The  color  is  due  to  a  con- 
siderable charge  of  the  red  oxyd  of  iron.  Minute  spangles  of  mica  are 
generally  interspersed  throughout  these  rocks,  and  assist  in  giving  the 
surface  of  the  fractures  a  soft  and  almost  satin-like  texture.  The  strata 
here  are  tilted  somewhat  over  the  perpendicular,  by  the  upheaval  of  this 
range  of  mountains;  but  the  surfaces  which  are  exposed  bear  evidence  of 
these  sedimentary  rock's  having  been  deposited  in  a  nearly  horizontal 
position,  and  in  a  placid  state  of  water,  presenting  to  the  animal  a  very 
slightly  inclined  shore,  as  it  advanced  from  the  waters  which  existed  on 
the  northern  side.  The  impressions  made  at  that  time  were  upon  the 
sands  of  a  shore  from  which  the  waters  had  for  a  time  receded,  having 
left  the  shore  covered  with  well-defined  'ripple  marks,'  and  a  pro- 
fusion of 'rain  drop  pits.'  The  surface  of  the  rock  exposed  to  view  was 
about  six  feet  by  twelve,  and  across  the  shorter  diameter  were  distinctly 
and  beautifully  impressed  a  double  row  of  tracks,  consisting  of  six  im- 
pressions, duplicated  by  the  hind  foot  falling  into  the  impression  of  the 
fore  foot,  but  a  little  more  in  advance.  The  specimen  taken  from  the 
mass  of  the  rock  was  thirty-four  by  twenty-one  inches.  The  six  double 
impressions  show,  in  the  two  parallel  rows,  formed  by  the  left  feet  on  the 
one  side,  and  the  right  feet  on  the  other,  that  the  animal  had  jive  toes  on 
the  fore  foot,  three  of  which  toes  were  apparently  armed  with  unguical 
appendages.  The  hind  feet  appear  to  have  had  four  toes.  The  impres- 
sions of  the  bind  feet  being  inade  nearly  on  the  same  spot  as  that  of  the 
fore  feet,  cause  some  obliteration  and  confusion,  as  well  as  variation  in 
size  and  form  of  footmarks,,  The  best  defined  one  is  four  and  a  half  inches 
long  and  four  broad — this  is  including  the  double  impression.  The  single 
foot  would  probably  measure  three  and- a  half  inches  long  by  three  inched 
broad.  The  stride  or  step  of  the  animal  measures,  from  toe  to  toe,  thir- 
teen inches;  from  outside  to  outside  the  distance  is  eight  inches.  The 
mark  of  the  tail  is  distinctly  impressed,  causing  a  groove-like  furrow  over 
the  top  of  each  ripple  line,  oblique  to  their  direction,  and  generally  fire  to 


248  THE   FIFTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

six  inches  long  and  three-quarters  of  an  inch  wide.  There  are  four  of 
these  tail-marks  or  grooves  on  as  many  ripple  lines,  the  crests  of  which 
lines  are  elevated  about  half  an  inch  ab.ove  the  intermediate  depressions. 
The  tail  was  evidently  not  a  thick  one,  and  the  animal  must  have  had  a 
distinct  and  perfect  step,  and  not  a  half-swimming  motion,  as  in  the 
crocodilians,  there  being  no  trace  of  the  dragging  of  the  feet.  The  tail 
must  have  been  considerably  elevated,  as  the  alternate  tail-impressions 
show  that  a  vibration  actually  took  place  at  every  step,  the  four  grooves 
not  being  in  a  direct  line,  but  each  one  approaching  its  nearest  footmark 
to  the  right  or  the  left,  alternately,  and  therefore  never  precisely  on  the 
central  line  between  the  two  rows  of  the  footmarks.  These  facts  prove 
that  the  animal  which  left  its  imprint  in  this  ancient  sandstone  stood 
much  higher  on  its  legs  than  the  Crocodilus  or  the  Monitor,  and  probably 
was  not  so  long  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  feet.  It  is  well  known 
that  the  alligator  leaves  no  foot-impression  in  the  mud,  but  simply  a 
large  fxirrow,  made  by  the  ventral  and  caudal  proportion?.  The  form 
of  the  foot  impressions  is,  however,  very  similar  to  that  which  is  received 
by  the  mould  in  clay  o^the  Alligator  Minsiasijjpiensis,  specimens  of  which 
are  in  the  collection  of  the  Academy  of  Natural'  Sciences,  Philadelphia. 
If  an  opinion  might  be  hazarded,  as  regards  the  probable  size  of  the  ani- 
mal, based  on  this  meagre  diagnosis,  I  should  suppose  it  might  reach 
-  as  much  as  seven  or  eight  feet  in  length.  The  water,  in  passing  over 
the  impressions,  left  lines  indicating  its  direction.  Occasionally  may  be 
seen  small  subglobular  forms,  which  may  possibly  be  the  ejectamenta 
or  coprolites  of  some  of  the  animals  that  passed  over  the  shores  of  these 
waters."* 

The  footmarks  of  Mr.  Lea  were,  only  two  years  after, 
succeeded  by  a  similar  discovery  in  the  upper  layers  of 
the  old  red  sandstone  of  Morayshire,  in  Scotland.  These 
footprints  are  in  pairs,  forming  two  parallel  rows ;  and 
sometimes  those  of  the  fore  and  hind  feet  nearly  run  into 
each  other,  as  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Lea's.  The  hind  foot  is 
one  inch  in  diameter,  and  larger  than  the  fore  feet  in  the 
proportion  of  four  to  three.  Two  years  after,  viz.,  in 
1851,  the  fossil  skeleton  of  a  reptile  was  found  in  the 
same  formation  and  in  the  same  district.  The  bones  had 
decomposed,  but  the  natural  position  of  almost  all  of  them 

*  Isaac  Lea,  on  the  Fossil  Footmarks  in  the  Red  Sandstone  of  Potta- 
rille,  from  Trans.  Am.  Phil.  Soc.,  vol  x. 


FOSSILS,    FOOTPRINTS,    AND   RAIN-DROPS.  249 

could  be  seen,  and  nearly  perfect  casts  of  them  were  taken 
from  the  hollow  moulds  which  they  left.  The  matrix  was 
a  fine-grained,  whitish  sandstone,  with  a  cement  of  car- 
bonate of  lime.  The  skeleton  exhibits  the  general  char- 
acters of  the  Lacertians,  blended  with  peculiarities  that 
are  Batracian.  Hence  Dr.  Mantell  infers  that  this  rep- 
tile was  either  a  fresh-water  Batracian  or  a  small  terres- 
trial lizard.  The  skeleton  is  about  four  and  a  half  inches 
in  length,  but  part  of  the  tail  is  concealed  in  the  rock. 
Dr.  Mantell  has  proposed  for  it  the  generic  name  of  Tel- 
erpeton  (or  afar-off  reptile),  while  the  specific  name, 
Elgineuse,  commemorates  the  principal  place  near  which 
it  was  obtained. 

Similar  footprints  of  Chelonian  reptiles  have  been  found 
in  rocks  supposed  to  be  still  older  than  the  old  red  sand- 
stone, on  the  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  at  Beauharnois, 
in  Upper  Canada.  The  rocks,  indeed,  are  supposed  to 
belong  to  the  lower  Silurian  series,  but  some  doubt  ap- 
pears to  exist  as  to  their  precise  geological  position.  No 
doubt  exists,  however,  as  to  their  being  lower  down  or 
older  than  those  of  the  old  red  sandstone  or  Devonian 
system.  Prof.  Owen  intimates  that  the  animal  which 
made  these  foot-impressions  was  a  fresh-water  tortoise, 
rather  than  a  land  tortoise.  Supposing  it  to  have  been 
a  tortoise,  this  rock  is  by  far  the  oldest  in  which  such  re- 
mains or  signs  of  that  animal  have  been  found. 

I  have  thus  presented,  somewhat  at  length,  descriptions 
of  the  footprints  and  fossil  bones  of  animals  which  are 
conceived  to  be  anomalies  in  nature  and  in  geological 
chronology,  and  in  direct  conflict  with  the  Mosaic  revela- 
tion. The  footprints  discovered  by  Lea  and  Dr.  King  are 
supposed  to  have  been  made  by  a  quadruped  and  an  air- 
breather, —  and  its  characteristics  would  consequently  be 
terrestrial  rather  than  aqueous,  or  perhaps  it  combined 
some  of  the  features  of  both.  The  integrity  of  the  Bible 


250  THE   FIFTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

is  thus  assailed  in  various  ways ;  first,  in  assuming  that 
animals  of  a  high  organization  preceded  vegetation  ;  second, 
that  land  animals  existed  simultaneously,  if  not  really 
before,  aquatic  animals ;  and  thirdly,  that  the  ancient 
climate  was  not  such  as  Moses  describes — for  he  asserts 
most  unequivocally  that  there  was  no  sun  at  that  time, 
and  that  "the  Lord  God  had  not  caused  it  to  rain  upon 
the  earth,  but  that  there  went  up  a  mist  which  watered 
the  whole  surface  of  the  ground."  The  geologists,  on  the 
other  hand,  bring  forward,  with  their  animal  footprints, 
casts  of  rain-drops,  and  fissures  and  fractures  in  the  sand- 
stone, and  then  proceed,  upon  the  basis  thus  erected,  to 
annihilate  all  the  law  and  the  apostles.  In  connection 
with  the  footprints  already  described,  Professor  Lyell 
remarks  :  "  Having  alluded  to  the  spots  left  by  rain  on 
the  surface  of  carboniferous  strata  in  the  Alleghanies,  on 
which  quadrupedal  footprints  are  seen,  I  may  mention 
that  similar  rain-prints  are  conspicuous  in  the  coal  meas- 
ures of  Cape  Breton,  in  Nova  Scotia.  In  such  a  region, 
if  anywhere,  might  we  expect  to  detect  evidence  of  the 
fall  of  rain  on  a  sea-beach,  so  repeatedly  must  the  condi- 
tions of  the  same  era  have  oscillated  between  land  and 
sea."  In  1851,  Mr.  Richard  Brown  had  the  kindness 
to  send  me  some  greenish  slates  from  Sydney,  Cape 
Breton,  on  which  are  imprinted  very  delicate  impressions 
of  rain-drops,  with  several  worm-tracks  such  as  usually 
accompany  rain-marks  on  the  recent  mud  of  the  Bay  of 
Fundy,  and  other  modern  beaches.  The  casts  of  the  rain- 
prints  project  from  the  under  side  of  two  layers,  occurring 
at  different  levels,  the  one  a  sandy  shale  resting  on  green 
shale,  the  other  a  sandstone  presenting  a  similar  warty  or 
blistered  surface,  on  which  are  also  observable  some  small 
ridges,  which  stand  out  in  relief,  and  afford  evidence  of 
cracks  formed  by  the  shrinkage  of  subjacent  clay,  on 


FOOTPRINTS   IN    OLD   EED   SANDSTONE.  251 

which  rain  had  fallen.     Many  of  the  associated  sandstones 
are  described  by  Mr.  Brown  as  ripple -marked." 

"  The  great  humidity  of  the  climate  of  the  coal  period," 
continues  Sir  Charles,  "  had  been  previously  inferred  from 
the  nature  of  its  vegetation  and  the  continuity  of  its  for- 
ests for  hundreds  of  miles  ;  but  it  is  satisfactory  to  have  at 
length  obtained  such  POSITIVE  PROOFS  of  showers  of  rain, 
the  drops  of  which  resembled  in  their  average  size  those 
which  now  fall  from  the  clouds.  From  such  data  we  may 
presume  that  the  atmosphere  of  the  carboniferous  period 
corresponded  in  density  with  that  now  investing  the 
globe,  and  that  different  currents  of  air  varied  then  as 
now,  in  temperature,  so  as  to  give  rise,  by  their  mixture, 
to  the  condensation  of  aqueous  vapors."  The  cracks  in 
the  sandstones  containing  the  foot-marks,  Sir  Charles 
refers  to  the  effects  of  the  sun,  as  previously  remarked. 

Nearly  every  work  on  Geology  which  has  lately  come 
under  my  notice,  is  embellished  with  cuts  of  rain-drops ; 
and  those  of  Prof.  Lyell  contain  some  four  or  five  speci- 
mens. 

Now,  these  fossil  footprints,  rain-drops,  and  sun-cracks 
in  the  old  red  sandstone,  directly  impeach  the  veracity  of 
divine  revelation,  and  it  will  be  no  sufficient  answer  to 
the  array  and  combination  of  evidence  brought  against 
its  integrity  by  such  men  as  Sir  Charles  Lyell,  Prof. 
Hitchcock,  Hugh  Miller,  Sir  R.  Murchison,  Dr.  Mantell, 
Richardson,  and  many  others,  to  suggest  (as  many  writers 
professing  to  defend  it,  have  suggested)  that  it  is  not  a 
record  of  scientific  fact.  The  Bible  may  be  scientific,  or 
it  may  not  be ;  but  it  professes  to  tell  the  truth,  and  that 
is  the  reason  we  believe  in  it.  If  geologists  prove  it  to 
be  false,  our  confidence  in  it  must  necessarily  be  weakened ; 
for  believing,  as  we  do,  in  its  holy  inspiration,  we  regard 
it  utterly  incapable  of  mistake  or  inaccuracy,  no  matter 
whether  the  facts  embodied  in  its  statements  be  based  on 


252  THE   FIFTH    DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

the  truths  of  science  or  not.  Truth  is  truth.  If  the 
geologists  are  correct,  then  the  statements  of  Moses  can- 
not be ;  if  the  Bible  be  true,  then  the  geologists  are  all 
deceived.  Instead,  therefore,  of  offering  plausible  excuses 
and  evasions,  I  propse  to  meet  these  and  similar  contra- 
dictions of  the  Bible  fairly,  squarely,  and  boldly ;  and  if  I 
do  not  turn  the  insidious  daggers  thus  pointed  at  the 
Christian  community,  into  the  bowels  of  their  authors,  it 
will  be  because  niy  confidence  in  the  Bible  has  been 
mistaken,  and  that  my  faculties  of  practical  inquiry  and 
observation  have  deceived  me. 

Now,  what  are  these  footprints  described  by  Lea,  Lyell, 
and  King  ?  Of  the  latter  I  cannot  speak  with  positive 
knowledge,  although  I  have  been  on  the  spot ;  but  as  to 
those  of  Mr.  Lea,  I  have  passed  the  very  rocks  which 
have  yielded  his  specimens,  almost  every  day  for  the  last 
thirteen  years.  I  am  as  familiar  with  those  rocks  as  I  am 
with  the  faces  of  the  people  who  live  in  their  vicinity. 
Before  we  can  entertain  the  idea  of  the  tracks  having  been 
made  by  a  land,  or  an  air-breathing  animal — a  quadruped 
capable  of  locomotion,  it  must  first  be  shown  that, 
during  the  Devonian  period,  the  tracks  occupied  the 
position  of  dry  land.  If  they  really  constituted  dry  land 
during  that  period,  all  the  theories  proposed  by  the  class 
of  geologists  to  which  Mr.  Lea  appears  to  belong,  are  at 
once  overturned;  for,  occurring  as  they  do,  half  a  mile 
from  the  nearest  workable  seam  of  coal,  how  was  it  possi- 
ble for  the  immense  layers  of  sandstone,  coarse  conglom- 
erate, and  arenaceous  schist  to  have  been  deposited  ?  Are 
we  to  suppose  that,  after  the  animal  had  imprinted  its 
tracks,  there  was  an  instantaneous  submergence  of  the 
land  for  more  than  eight  hundred  miles?  or  only  a  partial 
submergence  of  fifty  or  a  hundred  miles  in  length  ?  That 
the  whole  extent  of  the  sandstone  rocks,  underlying  the 
coal,  would  have  to  be  thus  submerged,  if  the  animal  were 


FOOTPRINTS   IN   OLD   RED    SANDSTONE.  253 

an  inhabitant  or  frequenter  of  the  land,  is  perfectly  over- 
whelming, because  in  no  other  way  could  the  intermediate 
sedimentary  rocks  have  been  deposited.  If,  then,  the  soft 
mud  upon  which  these  tracks  were  imprinted,  had  been 
suddenly  lowered  into  the  water,  or  the  water  as 
suddenly  brought  over  them  by  a  tidal  flood,  is  it  not 
miraculous  that  the  movement  of  the  waves — the  oscilla- 
tions of  vast  bodies  of  excited  waters,  should  not  have 
obliterated  all  traces  of  the  impressions  ?  Why,  the  ordi- 
nary ebbing  and  flowing  of  a  high  tide,  apart  from  any 
extraordinary  convulsive  movement  of  the  land,  would 
alone  suffice  to  wash  out  any  footprints  made  on  the  soft 
mud  of  the  shore  ! 

Mr.  Lea  observes  that  the  surface  of  slabs  of  sandstone 
immediately  adjacent  to  those  which  contained  the  foot- 
marks, reveal  ripple-marks,  as  left  by  the  water.  He  infers 
from  this  that  the  rippled  sandstones  constituted  an 
ancient  shore,  upon  which  the  fossil  reptiles  moved.  This 
idea  is  still  further  supported  by  finding  other  slabs, 
including  those  with  the  footmarks  containing  casts  of 
rain-drops;  while  nearly  all  the  slabs  show  sun-cracks, 
as  if  the  shore  had  been  exposed  to  the  sun  and  to  showers 
of  rain. 

Now,  in  the  first  place,  I  do  not  regard  the  so-called 
ripple-marks  as  such  in  fact ;  and  in  the  next  place,  if  they 
are  ripple-marks,  it  can  be  shown  that  they  were  neces- 
sarily formed  under  the  water,  and  that,  if  they  afterward 
became  a*  temporary  shore,  they  would  have  been  effaced 
by  the  withdrawal  of  the  water.  Ripple-marks  are  fur- 
rows ;  but  those  at  Mount  Carbon  are  not.  They  are 
indentations,  running  in  parallel  rows,  and  have  perhaps 
as  valid  claim  to  be  considered  foot-marks  as  the  obscure 
specimen  obtained  by  Mr.  Lea.  These  indentations  are 
on  a  very  hard  sandstone — a  homogeneous  stratum  six 
feet  thick.  Seams  of  it  are  unusually  arenaceous.  Above 


254  TIIE    FIFTH    DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

this  stratum  there  are  fissures  filled  in  with  soft  nmd ;  and 
it  is  from  this  that  the  foot-marks  were  obtained.  Ripple- 
marks  are  invariably  formed  in  the  eddies  or  between  the 
projecting  rocks  of  rivers  and  lakes.  They  are  the  result 
of  obstructions  to  the  channel  of  the  stream,  which,  hold- 
ing comminuted  mud  and  sand  in  suspension,  precipii arc- 
it  to  the  bottom  wherever  the  movement  of  the  waters  is 
temporarily  arrested.  Water  has  precisely  the  same 
effect  upon  the  soft  mud  and  fine  sand  thus  deposited,  that 
the  blasts  of  winter  have  upon  drifted  snow.  Every  gale 
that  sweeps  over  the  earth,  scoops  out  the  snow,  and  piles 
it  up  in  irregular  w^ave-like  furrows  along  the  fences  and 
the  way-side.  Water  is  thus,  in  many  respects,  similar 
to  the  atmosphere  we  breathe — that  is,  it  is  an  aqueous 
body,  containing  currents  am}  eddies,  like  the  air ;  all  of 
which  are  caused  by  the  irregularities  of  the  surface  over 
which  they  flow.  But  when,  after  scooping  out  these 
furrows  in  the  bottom,  the  water  recedes  and  leaves  the 
land  exposed,  its  withdrawal,  its  surging  motion,  gradually 
levels  down  the  soft  materials,  and  effaces  all  traces  of 
the  previous  ripples.  Therefore  I  say  the  ripple-marks, 
if  they  be  such,  were  produced  by  and  under  the  water, 
and,  instead  of  affording  evidence  of  dry  land,  prove  ex- 
actly the  reverse  ;  for  an  hour's  exposure  of  such  soft  mud 
to  the  sun  and  wind  would  have  dried  it  up,  and  obliter- 
ated every  trace  of  the  ripples.  But,  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind,  that  these  ripple-marks  and  footprints  were  obtained 
in  a  deep  valley,  where  the  strata  are  perpendicular,  and 
surrounded  on  every  side  by  mountains  towering  eight 
hundred  feet  above  it.  If  there  had  been  a  shore  at  any 
time,  it  would  consequently  have  been  eight  hundred  feet 
from  the  footprints  on  the  summits  of  the  mountains  ! 
And  besides,  the  strata,  instead  of  being  laminated  in 
perfectly  straight  lines,  with  regard  to  each  other,  would 
have  been  wedge-shaped,  or  sloping;  but  we  have  no  such 


FOOTPRINTS  IN   OLD   RED    SANDSTONE.  255 

evidence.  On  the  contrary,  the  lines  of  lamination  and 
stratification  are  perfectly  parallel,  betraying  not  the 
slightest  indication  of  a  previous  shore.  So  much,  then, 
for  the  ripple-marks  ;  as  to  the  rain-drops  and  sun-cracks, 
I  will  consider  them  presently.  In  the  mean  time,  we 
shall  assume  that  no  dry  land  appeared  here  at  any  timo, 
until  after  the  deposition  of  the  coal ;  and  if  this  proposi- 
tion be  correct,  it  is  perfectly  clear  that  the  tracks  found 
by  Mr.  Lea  are  not  those  of  a  terrestrial  air-breathing 
quadruped. 

But,  supposing  that  the  tracks  were  really  made  by  an 
animal — (a  supposition  which,  however,  can  only  be  enter- 
tained on  the  basis  of  the  most  extraordinary  credulity), 
it  is  still  impossible  that  it  could  have  been  an  inhabitant 
of  the  land.  It  would  have  required  food — unless,  indeed, 
it  was  so  essentially  an  air-breather  that  it  could  live  on 
that  element  alone.  If  it  was  an  inhabitant  of  the  land, 
upon  "  what  meats  did  it  feed  ?"  Where  was  the  land 
vegetation  to  have  appeased  its  hunger  ?  There  is  not  a 
trace  of  such  vegetation,  nor  a  trace  of  any  mollusc, 
worm,  or  fish  whatever.  No  human  being  has  ever  found 
any  thing  in  that  entire  formation  which  could  have  sus- 
tained animal  life  !  Even  fleas  or  worms  could  not  have 
found  nourishment  on  the  land,  had  they  existed.  A  few 
poor  little  specimens  of  algse  are  found  in  the  rocks,  but 
they  all  grew  and  were  buried  in  the  water.  There  were 
no  land  plants,  whatever.  If,  therefore,  any  animal 
existed,  it  belonged  to  the  water;  and  if  it  made  any 
foot-marks,  they  must  have  been  made  under  the  water. 
Had  Mr.  Lea  combined  with  his'  telluric  researches — 
(which,  by  the  way,  have  been  of  a  highly  valuable  and 
interesting  character  in  many  other  departments  of  science, 
especially  that  portion  relating  to  the  practical  geology 
of  the  coal  measures) — had  he  evinced  a  taste  for  the  amuse- 
ment of  angling,  during  his  summer  sojourn  at  Mount 
17 


256  THE   FIFTH   DAY— GEOLOGICAL. 

Carbon,  I  venture  to  say  that  his  splendid  illustrations  of 
the  footprints  of  the  Sauropus  primcevis  would  have  been 
accompanied  by  full  length  portraits  of  the  living  de- 
scendants of  that  distinguished  Devonian  myth.  Had  he 
taken  a  rod  and  line,  and  wandered  along  the  shaly  and 
shady  nooks  of  Tumbling  Run,  a  stream  which  empties 
into  the  Schuylkill  directly  opposite  the  spot  where  he 
obtained  the  foot-tracks,  he  would  have  met  two  gigantic 
dams,  erected  by  the  Schuylkili  Navigation  Company,  to 
hold  back  supplies  of  the  aqueous  fluid,  to  make  up  any 
deficiencies  which  may  occur,  upon  the  line  of  that  work, 
during  seasons  of  drought.  These  dams  are  from  sixty 
to  eighty  feet  in  height,  and  the  water  thus  held  back 
makes  two  very  broad,  deep,  and  beautiful  artificial  lakes. 
The  water  is  very  clear  and  pure,  and  derived  from  nu- 
merous springs  that  bubble  up  their  cooling  draughts  in 
the  narrow  valley.  If  Mr.  Lea  had  dropped  a  line  in 
those  waters,  baited  with  a  crawling,  slimy  lumbrici 
terrestres,  (of  the  class  Annelida,  and  division  Articulata !) 
ten  chances  to  one  but  that  he  would  have  drawn  up  a 
creature  entirely  capable  of  making  footmarks  such  as  he 
described,  only  on  a  scale  somewhat  diminished.  He 
would,  in  short,  have  hauled  out  a  living  Sauropus,  swim- 
ming in  the  same  pond  with  trout  and  eels. 

Assuming  the  privileges  of  an  original  discoverer,  I 
will  here  describe  how  I  came  to  find  this  remarkable 
animal.  I  was  rambling  along  the  shores  of  the  Tumb- 
ling Run,  taking  my  usual  morning  walk  (sometimes 
extending  ten  or  fifteen  miles  around  Potts ville),  when  I 
perceived  that  the  lakes  were  being  drained  of  their  water, 
the  summer  drought  compelling  the  Navigation  Company 
to  withdraw  the  supplies  which  these  great  reservoirs 
afford.  The  escape  flume  was  therefore  dry,  t  at  between 
the  irregular  stony  bottom  were  several  little  shallow 
poola  of  water,  in  whicfy  as  I  approached,  there 


/          TIIE   SAUROFUS   MODERNIS  !  257 

great  floundering  of  young  trout,  as  if  they  were  afraid 
that  my  motives  were  not  honorable.     To  convince  them 
of  their  error,  I  drew  up* my  sleeves  and  gathered  them 
out  of  their  little  retreats,  which  the  thirsty  summer  sun 
would  have  licked  up  in  a  few  hours  more,  and  carefully 
put  them  back  in  the  lake.     While  engaged  in  this  benevo- 
lent amusement,  my  attention  was.  called  to  the  individual 
in  question.     He  was  an  inhabitant  of  the  water,  and 
shared  in  the  accident  which,  but  for  my  timely  arrival, 
would  have   consigned  him  with  his  finny  associates,  to 
terra  firma.     He  was  walking  around  on  the  bottom  of 
his  hydrogenous  basin,  as  if  in  search  of  a  shelving  stone 
or  a  quiet  sequestered  nook,  in  which  to  retire  from  the 
more  active  scenes  of  aqueous  life.     His  pedestrian  quali- 
ties excited  my  regard.     I  determined  that  he  too  should 
be  saved  !     But  first,  I  desired  an  exhibition  of  his  func- 
tions.    A  twig,  introduced  in  gentle   proximity  to   his 
caudal  appendage,  had  the  effect  of  persuading  him  to  ac- 
celerate his  movements,  and  I  found  that  he  was  equally 
at  home  as  a  swimmer  and  a  pedestrian.     Finally,  I  con- 
verted my  handkerchief  into  a  net,  and  with  this  safely 
secured  him.     I  then  left  for  my  hotel,  and  after  a  walk 
of  fifteen  minutes,  reached  my  sanctum  sanctorum,  where, 
in  a  glass  jar,   I   intended  him  for  the  post   of  honor 
among  my  relics  of  the  Devonian  and  carboniferous  rocks. 
To  my  astonishment,  however,  I  found  that  atmospheric 
air  did  not  agree  with  him;   the  admixture  of  oxygen 
with  nitrogen  did  not  meet  his  case  so  well  as  oxygen 
combined  with  hydrogen.     In  fact,  the  poor  thing  was 
dying  ;  and  now  I  reproached  myself  for  having  put  too 
much  confidence  in  science.     Having  been  taught  by  the 
descriptions  of  the  Geologists  to  regard  creatures  like  him 
as  air-breathers,  I  took  it  for  granted  that  a  little  nitrogen 
mixed  with  oxygen  and  the  vapors  of  hydrogen,  could  do 
him  no  harm,  especially  during  a  mere  experimental  trial 


258  THE   FIFTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

of  fifteen  minutes.  But  I  was  deceived.  The  Sauropiw 
Tumbling  Eunensinens  modernis  died  !  Eesquiescat  in 
pace,  and  may  he  not  become  a  fossil  to  haunt  and  perplex 
the  scientific  world  hereafter  ! 

He. was  a  beautiful  animal ; — from  five  to  six  inches  in 
length,  of  a  dark  green  color,  with  bright  golden  or  ver- 
million  specks,  like  those  of  the  trout.  The  structure  of 
the  head  was  somewhat  similar  to  that  of  the  toad,  and 
may  therefore  be  denominated  batracian.  It  very  much 
resembled  the  ideal  Labyrinthodon  pachygnathus  of  Prof. 
Owen,  except  that,  unlike  that  supposititious  animal,  it 
enjoyed  whatever  luxury  might  appertain  to  a  somewhat 
lengthened  caudal  appendage.  Its  fore-feet  were  furnished 
with  four  toes,  and  its  hind  feet  with  five.  The  hind  toes, 
like  those  of  the  Labyrinthodon  (supposed  to  represent 
the  Cheirotherium,)  are  about  twice  as  large  as  those  in 
front.  It  bore  no  resemblance  to  salamanders,  water  efts, 
crocodiles,  alligators,  gechas,  chamelions,  tortoises,  or 
serpents.  It  appears  to  have  been  a  species  of  lizard, 
and  answers  all  the  requirements  of  that  supposed  to  have 
made  the  footmarks.  Its  tail  was  long  and  sword-like, 
and  answered  a  useful  purpose  in  swimming ;  while  in 
walking,  it  swayed  from  right  to  left,  in  the  manner  de- 
scribed by  Mr.  Lea.  In  some  respects,  it  resembled  the 
Amblyrynclms  cristatus  of  South  America,  which  is  said 
to  be  the  only  marine  lizard  now  known.  "This  marine 
saurian,"  says  Mr.  Darwin,  "  is  extremely  common  in  all 
the  islands  throughout  the  Archipelago.  It  lives  exclu- 
sively on  the  rocky  sea-beaches,  and  I  never  saw  one  even 
ten  yards  in  shore.  The  usual  length  is  about  a  yard,  but 
there  are  some  even  four  feet  long.  It  is  of  a  dirty  black 
color,  sluggish  in  its  movements  on  the  land ;  but  when 
in  the  water,  it  swims  with  perfect  ease  and  quickness  by 
a  serpentine  movement  of  its  body  and  flattened  tail,  the 
legs  during  this  time  being  motionless,  and  closely  col- 


A   JEALOtS   "  tfcOFKSSOft. "  259 

lapsed  on  its  sides."  The  teeth  of  the  Tumbling  "Run 
Sauropus  modernis  are  like  those  of  fish — the  jaws  being 
furnished  with  plates,  on  which  are  warty  protuberances, 
such  as  characterize  catfish  .and  eels. 

Prof.  Agassiz,  at  the  meeting  of  the  American  Scientific 
Association,  in  1851,  remarked  of  Mr.  Lea's  Sauropus  foot- 
prints, "that  he  did  not  believe  they  were  made  by  an  air- 
breathing  animal;  he  thought  they  might  have  been  made 
by  fish  of  the  ancient  type,  but  he  did  not  believe  that 
any  air-breathing  animal  had  been  found  even  as  low 
down  as  the  New  Red  Sandstone  1"  Here  is  the  testi- 
mony of  one  of  the  greatest  Naturalists  of  the  age,  very 
plainly  and  plumply  putting  an  "extinguisher"  on  all  the 
deductions  and  assumptions  of  Geologists  as  to  the  charac- 
ter of  the  animals  which  imprinted  the  footmarks.  I  will 
not  say  that  the  Sauropus  modernis  actually  made  the 
footprints  of  Mr.  Lea,  because  I  do  not  believe  they  were 
made  by  any  animal  whatever,  either  of  the  air,  the  land, 
or  the  water ;  but  I  do  assert  that  the  footprints  it  makes 
exactly  answer  the  description  of  those  of  the  supposed 
ancient  animal  !  Reductio  ad  absurdum  / 

Prof.  H.  D.  Rogers,  at  the  same  session  of  the  scientific 
body  above  referred  to  depreciated  the  footprints  of  Mr.  Lea, 
by  denying  that  they  occurred  in  the  old  red  sandstone. 
He  alleges  that  the  footprints  were  inside  of  the  coal 
measures,  and  denied  that  there  was  any  identity  between 
the  old  red  sandstone  of  America  and  that  of  Europe  ! 
All  this,  however,  seems  to  have  been  evolved  in  a  spirit 
of  professional  jealousy.  He  did  not  like  to  see  Mr.  Lea 
reaping  glory  from  a  discovery  which  he,  himself,  as  the 
official  geologist  of  the  State,  should  have  made ;  there- 
fore, he  suggested  that  the  footprints  did  not  occur  in  the 
Old  Red  Sandstone  at  all.  "  These  footprints  in  the  red 
shale  formation  at  Mount  Carbon,"  observes  the  envious 
professor,  "  are  of  an  age  essentially  later  than  that  attri- 


260  THE   FIFTH   LAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

buted  to  them ;  they  occur  in  a  geological  horizon  only  a 
few  hundred  feet  below  the  conglomerate  which  marks 
the  beginning  of  the  productive  coal  seams,  in  which  series 
similar  footprints,  attributed  to  batrachian  reptiles,  have 
previously  been  met  with  in  western  Pennsylvania.  In- 
stead, therefore,  of  constituting  a  record  of  antique  rep- 
tilian life,  earlier  than  any  hitherto  discovered  by  at  least 
a  whole  chapter  in  the  geological  book,  they  carry  back 
its  age  only  by  a  single  leaf. "  Mr.  Rogers,  as  if  to  retrieve 
laurels  that  should  have  adorned  his  illustrious  brow  alone, 
proceeded  to  hunt  up  footprints  for  himself.  He  searched 
around  the  old  sandstones  and  conglomerates,  and  in  his 
great  Report  of  the  State  Survey  (great  for  its  enormous 
dimensions,  as  the  celebrated  Daniel  Lambert  was  for  his 
weight),  he  remarks  that  "  about  five  hundred  feet  lower 
down  in  the  formation,  or.  further  south,  in  the  same  lo- 
cality, the  Geological  Survey  brought  to  light  another 
species  of  footprints  of  much  smaller  dimensions ;  and 
soon  afterward  two  other  varieties,  etc.,  etc.  He  gives  a 
very  lame  description  of  these  footprints ;  and  adds 
that  "considerations  of  economy  have  compelled  him  to 
omit  engraving  them'!"  This  is  very  remarkable.  Many 
thousands  of  dollars  were  appropriated  by  the  State  to 
pay  for  publishing  his  work — a  work  executed  in  Scotland, 
and  bearing  a  Scottish  imprint;  yet  an  engraving,  the 
execution  of  which  would  certainly  not  have  cost  over  ten 
or  fifteen  dollars,  could  not  be  afforded  !  The  engraving 
of  "  sun-cracks"  on  the  same  page,  immediately  below  the 
sentence  first  quoted,  must  have  cost  at  least  twenty-five 
or  thirty  dollars,  and  is  of  no  earthly  significance  what- 
ever ;  yet  the  footprints,  if  they  be  such  in  fact,  cannot 
but  be  regarded  as  of  extraordinary  interest,  but  are 
altogether  omitted  from  "  considerations  of  economy."  If 
Mr.  Rogers  were  sincere — if  he,  himself,  really  believed 
in  the  footprints  which  he  says  he  discovered  in  a  geo- 


THE   PICKWICK   CONTROVERSY.  261 

logical  zone  still  lower  than  that  of  Mr.  Lea,  a  simple  en- 
graving on  wood,  exhibiting  the  tracks,  would  have  sufficed. 
Mr.  Lea,  with  a  liberality  which  does  him  infinite  credit, 
has  expended  large  sums  to  lay  before  the  world,  the  dis- 
coveries he  has  made,  some  of  which  Mr.  Rogers  should 
have  introduced  into  his  Report,  since  they  appertain  to 
Pennsylvania;  but  to  shirk  the  whole  question,  upon 
"considerations  of  economy,"  is  a  reflection  upon  the 
liberality  of  the  State  which  has  appropriated  something 
like  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  aid  his  explorations ; 
besides  being  personally  uncourteous  to  gentlemen  like 
Mr.  Lea,  who  sustain  their  paleontological  researches  with 
the  most  munificent  and  lavish  expenditure. 

But  the  truth  is,  that  all  these  foot-prints  are  too  ob- 
scure and  unreliable  to  deserve  any  consideration  for  one 
moment.  All  that  we  know  of  the  ante-medieval  periods  of 
Geology,  are  unfavorable  to  the  existence  of  land  animals, 
or  animals  of  any  kind  except  those  occupying  the  lowest 
scale  of  organized  life.  All  the  speculations  of  geologists, 
based  upon  such  frail  data  as  these  footprints  afford,  are 
precisely  of  a  character  with  the  great  Cobham  stone  dis- 
covered by  Mr.  Pickwick.  It  will  be  remembered  by 
those  who  have  read  the  history  of  that  remarkable  dis- 
covery, what  a  sensation  it  produced, — how  Mr.  Pickwick, 
the  immortal  discoverer,  delivered  a  Jecture  before  a 
general  meeting  of  the  Club,  in  which  he  entered  into  a 
variety  of  ingenious  and  erudite  speculations  on  the  mean- 
ing of  the  inscription.  "  It  appears,"  says  Mr.  Boz,  (the 
worthy  editor  of  the  posthumous  papers  of  the  Pickwick 
Club,)  "  it  appears  that  a  skillful  artist  executed  a  faithful 
delineation  of  the  curiosity,  which  was  engraven  on  stone 
and  presented  to  the  Royal  Antiquarian  Society,  and 
other  learned  bodies — that  heart-burnings  and  jealousies 
without  number  were  created  by  rival  controversies  which 
were  penned  upon  the  subject — and  that  Mr.  Pickwick 


262  THE   FIFTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

himself  wrote  a  pamphlet  containing  ninety- six  pages  of 
very  small  print,  and  twenty-seven  different  readings  of 
the  inscription.  That  three  old  gentlemen  cut  off  their 
eldest  sons  with  a  shilling  apiece  for  presuming  to  doubt 
the  antiquity  of  the  fragment — and  that  one  enthusiastic 
individual  cut  himself  off  prematurely,  in  despair  at  being 
unable  to  fathom  its  meaning  !  That  Mr.  Pickwick  was 
elected  an  honorary  member  of  seventeen  native  and  for- 
eign societies,  for  making  the  discovery  ;  that  none  of  the 
seventeen  could  make  any  thing  of  it,  but  that  all  the 
seventeen  agreed  it  was  very  extraordinary  I  Mr.  Blotton, 
indeed — and  the  name  will  be  doomed  to  the  undying  con- 
tempt of  those  who  cultivate  the  Mysterious  and  the 
Sublime — Blotton,  we  say,  with  the  doubt  and  caviling 
peculiar  to  vulgar  minds,  presumed  to  state  a  view  of  the 
case,  as  degrading  as  ridiculous.  Mr.  Blotton,  with  a 
mean  desire  to  tarnish  the  lustre  of  the  immortal  name  of 
Pickwick,  actually  undertook  a  journey  to  Cobharn  in 
person,  and  on  his  return  observed  that  he  had  seen  the 
man  from  whom  the  stone  was  purchased, — that  the  man 
presumed  the  stone  to  be  ancient,  but  solemnly  denied 
the  antiquity  of  the  inscription,  inasmuch  as  he  repre- 
sented it  to  have  been  carved  by  himself,  in  an  idle 
mood,"  etc.,  etc.  Hereupon  followed  a  new  controversy. 
Blotton,  it  will  be  remembered,  wrote  a  pamphlet,  giving 
his  interpretation  of  the  inscription,  copies  of  which  he 
addressed  to  the  seventeen  learned  societies.  The  virtu- 
ous indignation  of  the  seventeen  learned  societies  being 
aroused,  "  several  fresh  pamphlets  appeared  ;  the  foreign 
learned  societies  corresponded  with  the  native  learned 
societies,  •  —  the  native  learned  societies  translated  the 
pamphlets  vf  the  foreign  learned  societies  into  English, — 
the  foreign  learned  societies  translated  the  pamphlets  of 
the  native  Feaiaud  societies  into. all  sorts  of  languages: 
and  thus  commenced  that  celebrated  Scientific  Discus- 


RAIN-DROPS   ACCOUNTED   FOR.  263 

sion,  so  well  known  to  all  men  as  the  Pickwick  Contro- 
versy /" 

But,  before  we  leave  the  Footprint  Controversy  (which 
has  already  surpassed  the  great  Pickwick  Controversy), 
we  must  say  a  few  words  in  relation  to  the  rain-drops 
and  the  sun-cracks.  These  are  said  to  occur  side  by  side 
with  the  footmarks,  but  are  frequently  found  isolated. 
Now,  in  the  face  of  all  the  learned  societies  and  professors, 
I  say  no  such  thing  as  rain-drops  exist  in  the  Devonian 
rocks !  The  whole  thing  is  a  mistake — an  absurd  and 
ridiculous  illusion. 

The  so-called  rain-drops  were  produced  on  the  slabs 
after  the  elevation  of  the  mountains  in  which  the  strata 
are  imbedded.  When  the  laminated  and  stratified  rocks 
were  upheaved,  and  set  on  their  edges,  like  shingles,  they 
gradually  contracted  on  cooling,  while  the  disturbances 
occasioned  by  their  uplifting,  fractured  them  internally 
and  externally.  As  the  seams  of  rock  parted,  the  surface 
water  of  the  mountains,  charged  with  fine  mud  and  sand, 
percolated  through  them,  and  gradually  filled  up  the  cre- 
vices and  cracks.  In  some  cases,  the  percolation  of  the 
water,  charged  with  sediment,  was  slow,  and  it  would 
trickle  down  the  smooth  sides  of  the  slabs  in  drops,  one 
after  the  other.  The  earthy  material  thus  held  in  suspen- 
sion would  be  deposited,  while  the  water  itself  was 
evaporated.  In  time,  the  surfaces  of  rocks  thus  ramified 
with  cleaved  lamina?,  would  become  coated  with  little 
warts  or  protuberances,  of  the  same  clayey  nature  as  the 
rocks  themselves.  In  this  manner  stalactites  are  gradually 
formed  in  caverns.  Wherever  the  rocks  are  calcareous, 
the  warts  and  stalactites  are  calcareous;  wherever  thev 
are  aluminous,  the  "rain-drops"  are  aluminous.  These 
so-called  rain -drops  are  being  formed  every  day.  I  ob- 
serve them  everywhere  in  my  rambles  among  the  rocks. 
Icicles  in  winter  afford  another  illustration.  Drop  after 


264  THE   FIFTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

drop  accumulates  on  the  cornices  of  houses,  or  upon  the 
limbs  of  trees.  If  the  water  contained  soft,  plastic  mud 
in  solution,  every  drop  would  leave  behind  a  small  amount 
of  sediment,  which,  by  the  slow  succession  of  drops, 
would  finally  accumulate  into  protuberances  varying  in 
size  from  a  pin's  head  to  an  ordinary  rifle  ball.  The 
cracks  and  fissures  attributed  to  the  sun  were  produced 
partly  by  the  original  disturbance  which  changed  the  po- 
sition of  the  strata  ;  partly  by  the  immediate  action  of  the 
elevating  heat ;  and  afterward  by  the  contraction  of  the 
strata  in  the  process  of  cooling.  These  cracks  were  after- 
ward filled  up  by  surface  drainage,  and  when  this  happened 
to  introduce  different  earthy  materials  from  that  composing 
the  rocks,  the  cracks  themselves  will  exhibit  the  fact. 
Many  of  them  are  filled  in  with  quartz  crystals,  and  these 
are  being  constantly  elaborated  by  supplies  of  water  cir- 
culating through  their  labyrinthine  crevices  and  laminae. 
It  is  hardly  possible  to  break  a  piece  of  laminated  red 
shale  or  sandstone,  without  finding  in  it  the  traces  of  sur- 
face drainage. 

But  a  moment's  reflection  would  satisfy  any  man  of 
common  sense  and  observation,  that  it  would  be  utterly 
impossible  for  rain-drops  to  accumulate  and  be  preserved 
on  the  rocks  in  the  manner  suggested  by  Lyell  and  his 
cotemporary  geologists.  If  they  fell  upon  a  sandy  or 
clayey  shore,  they  could  make  no  impression  on  the  ground, 
for  the  reason  that  the  succession  of  drops  is  too  rapid, 
and  occur  in  too  great  a  profusion.  The  impression  of 
one  would  be  effaced  by  another ;  while,  after  the  rain 
had  ceased,  the  surface  of  the  mud  would  be  so  saturated 
with  the  rain,  so  perfectly  liquefied,  that  no  impression 
could  by  any  possibility  remain.  Besides,  if  the  sun  had 
been  hot  enough  to  crack  the  ground,  it  would  have  ab- 
sorbed ihe>  rain-drops  immediately.  The  whole  idea  is 
the  most  absurd  that  I  have  ever  encountered  in  the  entire 


SUN-CRACKS   AND   RAIN-DROPS   EXPLAINED.  265 

records  of  geology.  Although,  as  I  remarked  before,  all 
Geologists  exhibit  engravings  of  these  rain-drops,  no  one 
has  ventured  to  surmise  how  they  were  fossilized.  It  was 
sufficient  for  one  man  to  say  that  they  were  rain-drops, 
without  assigning  any  reason  for  it,  and  then  all  the 
others  blindly  adopt  his  opinions.  The  prefix  of  "  Sir," 
or  "  Doctor,"  or  "  Professor"  to  a  man's  name,  gives  con- 
fidence to  those  who  have  no  independence  or  capacity  to 
think  or  examine  for  themselves  ;  and  hence  the  common 
sense  of  the  age  is  borne  down  with  the  most  consummate 
trash,  under  the  guise  of  science,  that  could  possibly  be 
conceived. 

I  have  in  my  collection  many  specimens  of  these  so- 
called  rain-drops,  as  obtained  from  different  formations. 
I  have  found  them  in  the  body  of  the  coal  veins,  and  in- 
crusting  the  sides  of  their  stratified  benches  or  walls. 
These  often  occur  in  flattened  drops,  because  the  crack 
was  too  narrow  to  admit  of  the  full  expansion  of  the  round 
or  spherical  form  of  the  drops,  while  the  earthy  matter 
left  behind  is  correspondingly  flattened,  as  a  shot  would 
be  if  compressed  between  iron  plates.  Those  in  the  coal, 
as  might  readily  be  inferred,  are  composed  of  sulphur  and 
iron,  and  present  a  bronze-like  color.  In  the  slates  by  the 
side  of  the  coal  veins,  the  rain-drops  are  irregular  in  size, 
varying  from  a  pin's  head  to  buck-shot.  Like  those  of  the 
coal,  they  also  consist  of  sulphur  and  iron.  Having  been 
deposited  by  water  which  held  these  ingredients  in  solution, 
in  trickling  through  the  fissures  of  the  coal,  the  sulphur 
has  eaten  holes  in  the  slates,  as  might  readily  be  conceived. 
These  holes  were  originally  filled  with  the  sulphuret  of 
iron  (pyrites),  but  some  of  the  balls  have  since  fallen  out. 
Now,  that  these  balls  and  cavities  should  have  been  pro- 
duced by  showers  of  rain,  would  indicate  a  meteorological 
phenomenon,  even  greater  than  the  footprints — for  it 
shows  that,  if  they  were  thus  formed,  there  was  a  time  when 


266  THE   FIFTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

the  earth  rained  down  sulphuric  acid!  The  rain-drops  in 
limestone  regions,  would  also  indicate  that  the  atmosphere 
at  another,  or  perhaps  the  same  time,  and  in  the  same 
vicinity,  rained  down  showers  of  carbonic  acid.  Yet  Sir 
Charles  Lyell,  and  the  author  of  the  Yestiges  of  Creation, 
both  remark  that  such  rain-drops  even  show  the  "direction 
in  which  the  showers  came!" 

It  is  absolutely  sickening  to  me  to  dwell  longer  on  this 
branch  of  the  subject !  I  blush  for  the  credulity  and  st-u- 
pidity  of  a  world  that  can  swallow  such  absurdities,  when 
their  sole  object  and  unavoidable  tendency  is  to  under- 
mine, and  bring  into  contempt,  the  holy,  word  of  the 
great  Jehovah  !  But,  alas  I  Ce  monde  est  plein  defousf 
Must  it  ever  be  so — must  it  always  be  deceived  by  its 
philosophy — its  "science  falsely  so-called  "?  Are  we  never 
to  have  an  age  of  common  sense,  when  reason  and  experi- 
ence can  be  heard  without  a  resort  to  the  subtilties  of 
classic  verbiage  and  labyrinthine  technicality  ?  Disrobe 
Science  of  the  unmeaning  tautology  that  surrounds  it,  and 
what  is  it  but  the  expressed  idea  of  the  laws  of  the 
Creator,  ready  to  teach  in  plain  English,  as  well  as  in 
bad  Greek  and  Latin  ?  Many  of  its  recognized  votaries 
and  expounders  are  the  mere  peddlers  in  words — phrase- 
ology ;  inventors  of  classification  ;  discoverers  of  Cobham 
relics — footprints — old  .  teeth  and  bones !  Let  men  come 
forward  who  observe,  and  let  us  hear  what  they  have 
learned,  not  merely  in  books,  but  in  the  fields  and  among 
the  rocks — in  the  mountains  and  in  the  valleys.  But, 
for  heaven's  sake,  let  us  hear  no  more  of  fossil  footmarks, 
until  the  rocks  favor  us  with  the  fossil  bones  of  the 
animals  that  made  'em,  so  that  we  may  at  least  learn — 

"Whether  the  snake  that  made  the  track, 
Was  going  south,  or  coming  back!" 

We  happen  to  have  higher  and  older  authority  than  the 


FOSSILS,    FOOTPRINTS,    AND   RAIN-DROPS.  267 

geologists  to  believe,  as  we  have  previously  premised,  that 
during  the  Devonian  and  coal  periods,  even  if  the  land 
had  been  exposed  as  indicated,  there  was  no  sun  to  crack 
and  parch  the  crust,  nor  yet  showers  of  rain  to  leave  behind 
the  petrifaction  of  their  fluid-drops.  And  in  reference  to 
aqueous  animals,  Moses  says  nothing  to  contradict  the 
belief  in  their  existence  ;  but  on  the  contrary,  leads  us  to 
infer  that  they  did  exist.  For  after  the  production  of  the 
coal,  and  the  permanent  establishment  of  the  solar  influence, 
he  commands  the  "  waters  to  bring  forth  abundantly  the 
moving  creature  that  hath  life,  and  to  fill  the  seas,"  there- 
by leaving  us  free  to  infer  that  they  may  have  previously 
existed,  but  in  somewhat  sparing  numbers. 

Besides  the  Cheirotherium  footsteps  in  the  new  red 
sandstone,  these  strata  were  also  distinguished  by  a  family 
of  monsters  called  Ichthyosaurus,  half-fish  and  half-reptile, 
which,  although  living  in  water,  breathed  the  air,  and  sub- 
sisted mainly  on  the  smaller  animals  of  the  seas  they  inhab- 
ited. The  Plesiosaurus  was  equally  gigantic,  and  perhaps 
even  more  remarkable — having  had  a  neck  twice  as  long  as 
its  body,  the  head  of  a  lizard,  the  teeth  of  a  crocodile,  the 
extremities  and  paddles  of  a  whale,  the  ribs  of  a  chame- 
leon, and  the  trunk  of  a  quadruped.  The  Megalosaurus 
was  a  gigantic  lizard,  which  occasionally  frequented  the 
land.  The  Pterodactyle  was  also  a  huge  lizard,  but,  by 
means  of  wings,  was  enabled,  to 'some  extent,  to  fly  through 
the  air,  and  thus  to  dart  down  upon  its  prey.  Tortoises, 
toads,  and  crocodiles,  of  great  dimensions,  prevailed  very 
extensively  in  this  era ;  and  it  may  be  said  of  all  the  mon- 
sters that  lived  during  this  time,  that  while  they  each  com- 
bined some  of  the  features  of  fish  with  those  of  tor- 
toises, reptiles,  whales,  and  birds,  they  yet  partook  of  none 
of  the  distinctive  characteristics  of  any.  They  were  indeed, 
neither  fish,  flesh,  nor  fowl ;  but  a  singular  combination  of  all. 
They  thus  constitute  a  class  of  thmns^lves,  different  alike 


268  THE   FIFTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

from  the  preceding,  and  those  of  the  subsequent  eras. 
The  whole  of  these  strata  having  been  deposited  under 
water,  (and  generally  under  the  sea,)  and  there  being  no 
remains  of  land  animals,  properly  so  understood,  we  are 
entitled  to  infer  with  Prof.  Agassiz,  that  none  had  yet  ap- 
peared on  the  earth ;  unless,  indeed,  we  regard  birds  as 
such.  But  all  the  tortoises,  lizards,  toads;  and  other 
reptiles  that  nourished  at  this  time,  were  properly  aqueous, 
although  all  of  them  may  have  occasionally  wandered 
on  shore,  or  been  abandoned  there  through  their  own 
negligence,  by  means  of  sudden  withdrawals  of  the  tides, 
or  similar  causes.  Under  these  circumstances,  it  is  pro- 
bable that  they  made  the  best  use  of  their  pedal  extremities 
which  the  novelty  of  their  situation  required  ;  and  instead 
of  swimming,  they  learned  to  crawl  or  walk.  In  this 
way  we  may  account  for  some  of  the  foot-tracks  discovered 
in  the  new  red  sandstone,  because  the  fossil  skeletons  of 
the  animals  that  seem  to  have  made  them,  are  found  in 
the  same  rocks.  In  the  new  red  sandstone  of  Connecti- 
cut, the  foot-tracks  of  birds  occur  in  great  abundance, 
along  with  these  of  toads,  tortoises,  and  lizards.  That 
they  are  really  the  tracks  of  birds,  seems  to  be  generally 
admitted.  Unlike  other  tracks  in  the  lower  measures, 
they  occur  very  extensively,  and  have  been  found  in  ex- 
traordinary abundance  in  no  less  than  sixteen  different 
places.  The  animals  that  made  them,  would  appear  to 
have  belonged  to  the  order  Grallatores,  or  waders,  and 
some  of  them  were  of  gigantic  size — even  exceeding  the 
racing  ostrich  of  the  desert,  or  the  extinct  denornis  and 
apleris  of  New  Zealand,  whose  fossil  bones  show  that 
they  stood  from  seven  to  twelve  feet  in  height.  These 
gigantic  waders  wandered  along  the  shallow  estuaries  in 
search  of  food,  or  some  of  them  may  have  skimmed  the 
air,  from  one  island  to  another.  The  land,  which  was 
then  constantly  rising,  was  no  doubt  always  strewn  with 


THE  SECONDARY   FORMATION.  269 

the  spoils  of  the  sea ;  and  this  would  not  fail  to  tempt  the 
fowls  to  the  shore,  while  its  mud  was  yet  soft,  but  rapidly 
drying  under  the  effects  of  the  sun  that,  since  the  fourth 
day,  had  now  emerged  in  new-made  brilliance — hence  the 
impressions  of  their  feet  on  arenaceous  mud  that  has  since 
become  indurated. 

It  may  seem  strange  that  God  should  have  introduced 
marine  animals  and  birds  at  the  same  time,  and  reserved 
mammalia  for  a  subsequent  era.  But  when  we  reflect 
that,  by  means  of  birds,  he  caused  the  seeds  of  vegetation 
to  be  scattered  over  the  earth,  as  the  dry  land  continued 
to  emerge,  the  reason  is  rendered  sufficiently  obvious. 
The  vegetation  of  the  coal  period  was  not  adapted  to 
animals.  No  animal  is  known  to  feed  on  the  foliage  of 
pine-trees;  impregnated  as  it  is  with  resinous  and  sticky 
juices.  But,  after  that  period,  new  species  of  trees  and 
vegetables  were  introduced,  and  birds  were  then  created  to 
scatter  the  seeds  over  the  earth,  so  that  when  the  higher 
order  of  animals  should  appear,  they  might  find  the  means 
of  sustenance. 

Prof.  Hitchcock  has  devoted  much  attention  to  the 
investigation  of  the  footmarks  in  the  new  red  sandstone 
of  Connecticut ;  but  his  enthusiasm  seems  to  have  carried 
him  a  little  beyond  the  line  of  the  practical.  He  has  di- 
vided his  footmarks  into  some  fifty  species,  and  upon  the 
merest  assumptions  of  their  order  and  genera,  has  pro- 
ceeded to  assign  names  to  the  individuals  who,  unable  to 
appear  in  person,  have  obligingly  left  behind  their  foot- 
marks "on  the  sands  of  time."  Moved  by  what  we 
cannot  but  regard  as  a  silly-mania  for  mere  names,  the 
professor  very  properly  styles  his  first  order  Sillimanium  ; 
the  next,  (with  perhaps  more  truth  than  the  name  itself 
might  imply),  he  calls  LyellianiiS ;  in  a  similar  mood,  he 
styles  another  otozoum  Moodii ;  while  other  individuals 
or  species  are  named  Danaff  as,  Baileyanus,  EmmonsianiiB, 


270  THE   FIFTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

Adaiusanus,  Deweyanus,  etc.  Thus,  all  these  distin- 
guished gentlemen  are  complimented  with  anuses.  It  has 
long  been  suspected  that  professional  Geologists  have  a 
Mutual  Admiration  Society,  one  of  the  main  objects  of 
which  would  seem  to  be  the  invention  of  nomenclature 
for  all  sorts  of  unknown  animals,  by  means  of  which  their 
own  names  may  be  transmitted  to  admiring  posterity. 
The  propriety  of  this  scheme  may  be  justly  questioned ; 
for  the  expediency  of  naming  animals  wholly  unknown, 
and  which  may  in  fact  never  have  existed,  except  in 
imagination,  cannot  be  perceived.  It  was  a  prudent  ad- 
monition of  a  plain  farmer  to  his  son,  never  to  attempt 
the  numerical  solution  of  Rasores  in  gestation  until  they 
could  be  resolved  ab  ovo !  or,  rather  in  plainer  English, 
"Never  count  chickens  until  they  are  hatched!"  Our 
geologists,  however,  being  a  little  more  scientific,  follow 
the  instructions  of  the  Dutch  burgomeister  in  the  play, 
when  in  pursuit  of  a  criminal:  "First,"  said  he  to  his 
policemen,  "  first,  imprison  him  ;  secondly,  arrest  him ; 
and  thirdly,  "  be  sure  to  catch  him  !"  But,  granting  the 
occasional  expediency  of  temporary  names  to  distinguish 
unknown  and  extinct  animals,  the  propriety  of  borrowing 
those  of  distinguished  individuals  is  certainly  not  without 
objection.  We  can  readily  suppose  (as  a  friend  has  sug- 
gested), a  meritorious  member  of  the  Mutual  Admiration 
Association,  with  the  Celtic  appellation  of  O'Alinmy. 
Now,  if  Professor  Hitchcock  (who  is  such  an  adept  in 
names)  wished  to  compliment  Professor  O'Alinmy,  by 
bestowing  his  name  upon  one  of  these  bird-tracks,  the 
Bpecies  would  be  known  as  O^All-in-my-i,  and  this, 
it  is  very  obvious,  would  have  a  disparaging  effect 
upon  the  poor  birds,  in  the  estimation  of  the  vulgar 
mind ! 

The  class  of  birds  is  well  defined.    Warm-blooded,  they 
all  breathe  the  air  not  only  by  lungs,  but  also  by  means 


THE  SECONDARY   FORMATION.  271 

of  auxiliary  air-sacs,  as  well  in  some  measure  by  their 
very  bones,  the  internal  cavities  of  which  are  propor- 
tionally larger  than  those  of  other  animals,  and  are  usually 
filled  with  air  instead  of  marrow.  The  class  comprises 
seven  principal  order  :  Raptores,  or  birds  of  prey  ;  Inces- 
sores.  or  perchers ;  Scansores,  or  climbers ;  Basores,  or 
ecratchers;  Cursores,  or  runners;  Grallatores,  or  waders  ; 
and  Natatores,  or  swimmers.  The  fossil  remains  of  birds 
are  very  scarce  in  the  older  formations,  but  occur  in  very 
great  abundance  in  the  Tertiary  formation. 

The  fishes  comprise  a  very  numerous  and  diversified 
class  of  the  verbetrate  animals.  They  are  divided  into 
four  leading  orders,  as  the  Placoid,  Ganoid,  Ctenoid,  and 
Cycloid,  each  of  which  branches  out  into  a  large  number 
of  families,  genera,  and  species.  The  ancient  fishes,  as  we 
shall  presently  show,  were  different  in  their  organization 
from  those  now  living — having  been  allied,  in  some  mea- 
sure, to  the  subsequent  class  of  reptiles. 

The  Reptiles,  like  the  fishes,  also  comprise  four  orders, 
styled  respectively  the  Chelonians,  or  tortoises  ;  the  Sau- 
rians,  or  lizards;  the  Ophidians,  or  serpents,  and  the 
BatracMans,  or  toads  and  Salamanders.  Nearly  all  these 
animals  (the  footmarks  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding), 
appear  to  have  been  introduced,  for  the  first  time,  in  the 
strata  of  the  Secondary  formation — the  formation  which 
we  are  now  discussing.  They  appeared,  as  we  have 
shown,  in  the  new  red  sandstone,  but  flourished  more 
abundantly  in  the  Oolite.  And  the  fact  is  not  without 
significance  ;  for  as  the  arterial  blood  of  all  reptiles  is  in- 
variably mixed  with  a  proportion  of  venous  blood,  the 
temperature  of  their  bodies  is  nearly  that  of  the  surround- 
ing atmospheric  medium.  Their  organic  functions  are 
thus  much  influenced  by  atmospheric  changes,  and  when 
the  temperature  falls  to  40°  or  50°,  it  almost  invariably 

terminates  their  lives.     Hence  this  fact  has  an  important 

18 


272  THE   FIFTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL 

bearing  on  the  climaterial  properties  of  the  ancient  earth — 
nearly  all  the  theories  of  which  contemplate  a  warm,  humid, 
and  nearly  a  universal  temperature. 

It  has  been  shown,  too,  that  the  bone  cells  of  reptiles, 
birds,  and  fish,  have  forms  and  dimensions  peculiar  to 
each ;  and  that  while  changes  in  their  general  and  specific 
forms  have  constantly  occurred,  from  one  era  to  another, 
none  can  be  detected  in  the  organization  of  the  bones  them- 
selves, which  are  peculiar  to  each  class.  The  bone-cells 
of  Mammalia,  according  to  Mr.  Quicket's  investigations, 
average  about  one-two-thousandths  of  an  inch,  and  if  we 
adopt  this  as  a  standard  of  comparison,  it  is  found  that 
the  bone-cells  of  birds  will  fall  below,  and  those  of  reptiles 
will  far  exceed  it ;  while  those  of  fishes  are  so  entirely 
different  from  mammals,  birds,  and  reptiles,  both  in  shape 
and  size,  that  they  cannot  be  mistaken  for  either.  By  the 
aid  of  the  microscope,  we  are  thus  enabled  to  show  that 
the  physiological  laws  relating  to  the  structure  and  growth 
of  bone  have  ever  been  the  same  from  the  first  creation 
of  vertebrate  animals  in  the  far  remote  period,  when  sau- 
rian fishes  were  introduced  into  the*  seas  of  the  Silurian 
eras,  down  to  the  present  hour ;  that  the  colossal  Iguana- 
don  was  provided  with  bone-cells  formed  after  the  same 
type  as  the  tiny  lizard  that  crosses  our  path ;  that  the 
bones  of  the  gigantic  Dinornis  exhibit  no  difference  in 
structure  from  those  of  its  representive,  the  Apteryx  ;  that 
the  bones  of  the  Mastodon  and  Megatherium — those  ter- 
restrial giants  of  the  pie-Adamite  earth — are  modeled 
after  the  type  which  we  see  'in  our  domestic  quadrupeds, 
and  in  man  himself, 

Immediately  above  the  new  red  sandstone  there  are 
several  layers  of  clay,  limestone,  marl,  and  shale,  of  an 
aggregate  thickness  varying  from  six  hundred  to  one 
thousand  feet,  which  has  been  named  in  England  the  Lias 
group.  It  forms  the  base  of  the  oolite  rocks,  and  some- 


LIASSIC   AND   OOLITIC   STRATA.  2T3 

times  gradually  passes  into  them.  The  strata  are  inter- 
mixed, as  well  as  separate ;  but  all  of  them  are  prolific  in 
the  remains  and  shells  of  marine  animals,  as  well  as  of  the 
huge  reptiles  already  referred  to.  Many  of  the  crusta- 
ceans are  special  to  this  group ;  while  an  important 
change  occurred  in  the  structure  of  the  fish.  Those  of  the 
previous  eras  were  somewhat  allied  to  the  saurian  animals 
in  their  anatomical  structure,  but  they  now  began  to  as- 
sume the  distinctive  features  which  characterize  those  of 
the  present  age.  The  change  of  anatomy  and  physiologi- 
cal character,  while  it  constantly  proceeds  in  the  animal 
and  vegetable  creations  of  the  earth,  as  we  ascend  from 
one  geological  period  to  another,  was  not  regulated  by 
a  perceptible  transition  from  species  to  species ;  but  was 
invariably  direct  and  specific.  The  creatures,  therefore, 
that  flourished  in  one  period  were  peculiar  to  that  period  ; 
and,  if  they  appeared  afterward,  still  preserved  their  an- 
cient structure.  The  crustaceans  of  the  Silurians  and 
Devonians  occur  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  in  all  the  sub- 
sequent formations :  but  they  remain  unchanged  to  the 
present  moment.  The  change,  whenever  it  occurs,  is  in 
the  introduction  of  new  species,  and  the  extinction  of 
former  ones,  or  their  temporary  absence  in  intermediate 
strata.  The  idea  of  progressive  development,  or  gradual 
transition  from  a  low  to  a  higher  order  of  animal  and 
vegetable  life,  as  proposed  by  the  author  of  the  Vestiges 
of  Creation,  and  seemingly  sanctioned  by  Mr.  Darwin,  in 
his  recent  work  on  the  Origin  of  Species,  is,  therefore, 
erroneous  and  untenable.  There  is  no  such  thing  in  the 
whole  history  of  the  creation.  On  the  contrary,  every 
period  is,  more  or  less,  a  specialty,  and  is  sometimes 
wholly  obliterated  by  those  great  convulsions  which,  at 
different  times,  visited  every  portion  of  the  globe.  It  was 
this  alternate  repose  and  convulsion  that  shifted  animal 
life  from  period  to  period,  and  thus  produced  the  new 


974  THE   FIFTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

forms  which  we  notice  in  them.  Had  the  creatures  of 
the  earth,  during  these  convulsions,  been  placed  in  one 
spot,  they  would  have  been  destroyed  over  and  over 
again  ;  but  it  was  happily  so  arranged  that  their  destruc- 
tion in  one  locality  would  afterward  be  compensated  by 
an  influx  from  another.  It  is  this  alternating  change  in, 
and  during  the  great  creative  days,  that  has  led  the  author 
of  the  Vestiges  astray.  He  can  find  no  animal  at  all  re- 
sembling man  until  the  sixth  day.  He  can  find  no  true 
land  animal,  of  any  kind,  until  that  day.  He  can  find  no 
bird  or  any  of  the  huge  monsters  that  distinguish  the  fifth 
day,  in  any  of  those  preceding.  Whatever  development 
there  is  in  nature,  is  the  development  of  creative  law 
alone,  as  pointed  out  by  Moses — the  development  of  pro- 
gressive days  or  geological  formations : — not  the  gradual 
development  which  traces  a  worm  into  a  serpent,  thence 
into  a  quadruped,  and  finally  into  man.  Yet  such  is  the 
disposition  to  receive  and  respect  the  most  absurd  and 
wildest  philosophical  theories,  when  presented  under  the 
fascinating  exterior  of  scientific  verbiage,  that  this  work 
attained  unprecedented  popularity,  and  left  the  door  wide 
open  for  visionary  speculation  and  specious  infidelity. 

After  the  Lias,  we  have  a  group  which  is  very  exten- 
sively developed  in  England,  and  some  other  portions  of 
Europe,  and  there  called  the  Jurassic  or  Oolite.  The 
name  of  Oolite  has  been  bestowed  in  consequence  of  the 
resemblance  which  one  of  its  principal  limestone  layers 
presents  to  the  roe  of  a  fish,  or  to  clusters  of  small  eggs. 
The  group,  however,  comprises  ten  or  twelve  seams  of 
different  kinds  of  rock  and  earth,  as  sand,  clay,  marble, 
slate,  and  oolites  of  various  kinds.  These  layers  have  been 
divided,  with  the  usual  hair-splitting  nicety  of  Geologists, 
into  upper,  middle,  and  lower  divisions.  The  whole  is  of 
marine  origin,  and  abounds  in  fossils.  The  sea  still  pro- 
duced its  rank  weeds  in  great  abundance ;  but  a  change 


ANIMALS   OF   THE   OOLITE.  275 

was  taking  place  in  the  vegetation  of  the  land.  Almost 
all  the  species  which  distinguished  the  coal  had  disap- 
peaiecl,  and  there  was  a  sudden  and  extraordinary  deve- 
lopment of  species  allied  to  existing  willows,  poplars, 
sycamores,  and  elms,  with  but  comparatively  few  ferns 
and  resinous  pines.  In  Prance,  so  rich  are  these  rocks  in 
corals  and  shell  animals,  that  the  celebrated  D'Orbigny 
collected  over  four  thousand  species  belonging  to  the  fami- 
lies of  Radiata  and  Mollusca.  In  view  of  their  extraordi- 
nary variety,  it  would  be  useless  to  encumber  our  pages 
with  particulars.  The  articulated  animals,  however,  were 
comparatively  scarce,  unless  we  except  those  of  insects, 
scorpions,  and  spiders.  These  were  more  numerous  than 
ever  before  ;  though  it  may  be  well  to  observe  that  some 
writers,  and  among  them  the  author  of  Ae  Vestiges  of 
Creation,  speak  of  them  as  appearing  in  this  era  for  the 
Jlrst  time.  And  the  author  of  the  Vestiges  does  not  stop 
with  the  simple  announcement  of  the  fact,  but,  as  usual, 
proceeds  to  comment  and  to  speculate  upon  it.  Every 
little  incident  is  turned  to  practical  account,  and  made  to 
swell  the  current  leading  to  the  theory  of  progressive 
an'Tial  development.  With  this  view  he  observes:  "It  is 
remarkable  that  the  remains  of  insects  are  found  most 
plentifully  near  the  remaip*  of  pterodactyles,  to  which  un- 
doubtedly they  served  '*s  prey."  According  to  strict  prin- 
ciples of  logic,  the  very  converse  of  this  proposition  ought 
to  hold  good.  If  insects  served  as  food  for  the  flying 
Saurian,  they  ought  to  be  scarce  wherever  that  animal  is 
found ;  but  their  occurring  plentifully  is  prima  facie 
evidence  that  his  depredations  could  not  have  been  se- 
rious. But  it  is  unfortunate  for  the  development  hypo- 
thesis in  this  instance,  that  some  of  these  minute  animals 
existed  previously,  and  long  before  the  pterodactyles 
made  their  appearance  ! 

But  to  resume  :   The  vertebral  animals  were  also  but 


270  THE    FIFTH    DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

sparsely  represented  in  the  Oolite,  except,  as  in  the  Lia-p, 
by  the  prevailing  saurians.  These,  however,  increased 
immensely,  both  in  number  and  form,  and  constitute  the 
leading  feature  of  the  fauna  of  this  period,  if  not,  indeed, 
of  the  entire  Secondary  Formation.  The  change  before 
noticed  in  the  structure  of  the  fish,  had  now  become  uni- 
versal, or  nearly  so.  Formerly,  the  vertebral  column  of 
all  fish  extended  into  the  upper  lobe  of  the  tail,  as  it  does 
in  the  shark  ;  but  from  the  Lias  onward,  this  column  ter- 
minated into  a  bilobe,  or  into  two  branches  of  the  fin  (or 
before  it  reached  the  fin),  and  so  continues  in  nearly  all- 
the  species  now  existing.  There  were  other  minor  differ- 
ences peculiar  to  species  ;  but  the  change  here  noticed  was 
universal,  with  but  a  few  exceptions. 

Geologists  Have  indulged  in  a  great  deal  of  speculation 
in  reference  to  certain  detached  bones  found  in  the  rocks 
belonging  to  this  group.  First,  a  large  and  curious  bone 
from  the  main  Oolite  was  produced,  which  the  celebrated 
Cuvier  pronounced  to  be  the  ulna  of  a  whale  ;  but  which 
Mr.  Owen,  an  anatomist  of  hardly  less  pretension,  referred 
to  a  species  of  saurian  animal.  Second,  in  the  Stones  field 
slate  of  the  same  group  of  rocks,  large  numbers  of  the 
lower  jaws  of  mammiferous  quadrupeds  have  been  found, 
belonging  to  three  species  and  two  genera,  for  which  the 
names  of  Amphitherium  and  Phascolotherium  have  been 
adopted.  Cuvier  pronounced  one  of  these  specimens  io 
belong  to  a  small  ferine  mammal,  the  jaw  of  which  resem- 
bled that  of  our  opossum,  but  differing  from  existing 
genera  by  having  a  greater  number  of  molar  teeth.  The 
first  specimens  found  had  ten  such  teeth  in  a  row ;  but 
others,  found  some  years  after,  had  sixteen  in  a  row,  of 
which  twelve  were  molars.  The  question  was  raised, 
whether  tnis  fossil  belonged  to  a  mammifer,  a  reptile,  or 
a  fish ;  and  although  a  great  diversity  of  opinion  existed 
among  comparative  avatomists,  the  geologists  appear  to 


ANIMALS    OF    THE   OOLITE.  2t7 

have  settled  the  dispute  among  themselves,  and  estab- 
lished the  bones  as  belonging  to  land  animals  of  the 
marsupial  order  of  mammalia.  The  specimens  of  Phas- 
colotherium,  with  scarcely  less  exemption  from  doubt  and 
obscurity,  are  also  elevated  to  the  rank  of  pouched  ani- 
mals. While  the  geologists  reason  or  speculate  themselves 
toward  this  conclusion,  they  throw  the  ulna  of  the  whale, 
previously  discovered,  overboard,  or  degrade  it  to  the 
level  of  the  reptilian  species. 

The  changes  of  opinion,  in  reference  to  these  fossils,  have 
been  made  in  the  face  of  previously-expressed  views,  but 
evidently  without  sufficient  ground  to  support  them. 
The  bones  are  as  mysterious  as  they  were  before ;  com- 
parative anatomists  are  still  disagreed.  Yet,  upon  the 
mere  supposition  of  a  geologist  that  they  may  have 
belonged  to  a  humble  species  of  the  marsupial  order,  other 
geologists,  who  never  saw  the  specimens,  rank  them  as 
such  ;  and  thus,  in  time,  by  common  consent,  they  are 
established,  until  a  new  discovery,  or  the  scrutiny  of  an 
original  investigator  elicits  their  true  nature. 

Notwithstanding  the  supposed  marsupial  and  placental 
character  of  these  specimens,  in  speculating  upon  the 
absence  of  land  quadrupeds  during  this  and  the  Wealden 
eras,  Prof.  Lyell  says,  "  that  the  absence  of  the  bones  of 
whales,  seals,  dolphins,  and  other  aquatic  mammalia, 
whether  in  the  chalk  or  in  the  oolite,  is  certainly  very  re- 
markable." Now,  considering  that  the  aquatic  animals 
here  mentioned,  are  of  a  higher  order  than  the  marsupials 
of  the  fossils  (admitting  that  they  are  such,  but  they  may 
just  as  likely  belong  to  reptiles  or  fish),  and  that  they  did 
not,  and  some  of  them  could  not,  frequent  the  shallow 
lakes,  estuaries,  and  lagoons,  inhabited  by  the  saurians, 
chelonians,  batrachians,  and  similar  creatures,  there  would 
seem  to  be  nothing  remarkable  in  the  premises.  On  the 
contrary,  it  would  be  remarkable  to  find  the  skeletons  of 


278  THE   FIFTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

whales  side  by  side  with  reptiles,  lizards,  and  fish.  The 
whole  order  of  Cetacean  mammalia,  with  perhaps  a  few 
exceptions,  were  inhabitants  of  deep  water,  rendered 
necessary  by  their  enormous  proportions  ;  and  while  this 
ought  to  account  for  the  absence  of  their  bones  in  the 
shallow  deposits  of  the  Oolite  seas,  it  ought  also  to  ex- 
plain their  absence  until  the  appearance  of  the  subsequent 
Tertiary  rocks,  upon  which  their  skeletons  were  deposited, 
as  the  -then  floor  of  the  sea,  or  the  posssible  floor  of  its 
great  currents,  into  which  the  ocean  was  divided  then,  as 
it  is  now ;  so  that  in  the  case  of  whales,  their  carcasses 
would  naturally  be  borne  away  into  the  deepest  channels, 
and  not  be  floated  into  the  shallow  basins  along  the  land 
coasts.  If,  instead  of  whales,  they  had  been  trilobites,  or 
fish,  or  lizards,  their  fossils  would  have  been  strewn 
amongst  these  rocks  ;  but  being  nothing  less  than  whales 
and  considerably  larger  than  any  other  animals  which  the 
world  has  ever  yet  produced,  we  must  look  for  their  re- 
mains in  the  deep  sea-currents  which  they  inhabited,  and 
these  we  shall  have  an  opportunity  of  inspecting  when  we 
reach  the  Tertiary  periods,  or  the  sixth  day. 

Above  the  Oolite  rocks,  in  England,  occur  an  interest- 
ing series,  called  the  Wealden.  The  word  is  derived  from 
woods,  or  wealds,  and  has  reference  to  the  extensive 
forests  in  the  southeast  of  England,  where  the  rocks  were 
first  observed.  They  consist  of  limestone,  sandstone,  con- 
glomerate, and  clay,  abounding  in  the  remains  of  fresh- 
water and  land  animals  and  vegetation.  As  it  is  believed 
to  be  the  only  fresh-water  deposit  occurring  in  the  Se- 
condary Formation,  it  is  extremely  interesting  as  exhibit- 
ing the  remains  of  creatures  and  vegetable  life  that  flour- 
ished on  the  "dry  land"  during  that  period.  These 
deposits  occur  in  England,  Scotland,  and  some  other  por- 
tions of  Europe,  but  nowhere  in  the  United  States.  The 
main  deposit  consists  of  a  stratum  of  clay,  from  150  to 


THE   WEALDEN   STRATA,  .         279 

200  feet  thick,  having  various  shades  of  blue  and  brown 
streaks,  with  subordinate  benches  of  limestone  and  sand ; 
and  containing  fresh-water  shells,  and  bones  of  reptiles 
and  fish.  After  this, •*  another  stratum  occurs,  from  4CO 
to  500  feet  thick,  consisting  of  gray,  white,  ferruginous, 
and  fawn-colored  sands  and  sandstones,  with  fragments 
of  lignite,  and  carbonized  vegetation  ;  but  no  animals  or 
shells.  Below  are  layers  of  friable  sandstones  of  various 
shades ;  and  then  compact,  bluish-gray  grit,  in  lenticular 
masses,  the  surface  often  covered  with  mammillary  con- 
cretions, and  the  lower  beds  frequently  passing  into  con- 
glomerates, with  quartz  pebbles,  containing  ferns  and 
stems  of  trees,  bones  of  saurian  reptiles,  birds,  turtles, 
fishes,  and  shells  of  the  genera  Unio,  Cyclas,  Cyrena,  and 
Paludina — all  fresh-water.  Further  down  is  clay  of  a 
bluish-gray  color,  alternating  with  sand  and  -shale,  and 
containing  bones  and  shells  more  sparingly,  with  frag- 
ments of  ferns  and  stems  of  vegetables.  Another  layer 
of  white  and  yellow  sand  and  sandstone  exhibits  only 
ferns  and  pieces  of  lignite,  or  imperfect  brown  coal.  A 
still  lower  stratum  of  sand,  alternating  with  clay  and 
shale,  affords  only  ferns  and  lignite.  Finally,  a  layer  of 
shelly  limestone,  alternating  with  sandstone,  shale,  and 
marl,  exhibits  a  few  shells  of  the  genera  Cyclas  and 
Cyrena,  Vith  specimens  of  lignite  and  carbonized  wood. 
Among  these  strata  (which  extend  200  miles  in  one  direc- 
tion, and  220  in  another,)  remains  of  forests  in  situ  have 
been  found  in  several  localities.  'The  trees  had  invariably 
been  severed  near  the  ground,  leaving  the  summits  of  the 
stumps  jagged,  as  if  violently  detached  by  a  hurricane. 
Although  fragments  of  lignite  occur  in  the  strata,  no  in- 
formation is  given  by  the  English  geologists  as  to  the 
conversion  or  non-conversion  of  these  weald  forests  into 
coal.  Vegetation,  indeed,  would  appear  to  have  been 
almost  as  prolific  as  that  of  the  coal  period ;  and  although 


230  THE   FIFTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

it  consisted  a 'most  exclusively  of  ferns  and  palms,  yet 
these  are  the  varieties  which,  according  to  the  geologists, 
furnished  the  great  bulk  of  the  coal  of  the  Devonian 
basins ;  while  the  manner  of  deposition  at  the  mouths  of 
great  rivers  and  estuaries  of  the  sea  was  precisely  similar. 
Here  is  the  same  vegetation  and  the  same  circumstances 
in  operation  which  they  refer  to  the  carboniferous  era ; — 
but  where  are  the  layers  of  coal  ?  Shale,  and  clay,  and 
remains  of  vegetation,  alternating  with  sandstones,  lime- 
stones, and  conglomerate  ; — but  ivhere  is  the  coal  ?  The 
solution  of  the  proWem  is  this  :  after  the  oolite,  every 
trace  of  the  resinous  vegetation  disappeared — not  a  sign 
of  it  is  to  be  seen  in  the  subsequent  Cretaceous  era. 
There  were  a  few  specimens  only  of  Cycadese  and  mono- 
cotyledonous  palms,  more  of  ferns  and  aquatic  fucoides ; 
but  absolutely  not  a  trace  of  Conifera,  Sigillaria,  Lepido- 
dendrons,  and  Calamites.  The  proposition  hitherto  ad- 
vanced, therefore,  that  notwithstanding  the  extraordinary 
abundance  of  the  ferns  during  the  carboniferous  era,  they 
contributed  nothing  whatever  to  the  coal,  is  fully  exempli- 
fied here,  where  scarcely  any  thing  else  than  ferns  pre- 
vailed. 

In  some  of  the  Weald  deposits,  there  is  an  alternation 
of  marine  and  fresh-water  strata.  This  alternation  is 
continued  three  or  four  times,  and  is  precisely  similar  to 
that  of  certain  coal-fields.  Geologists  explain  it  in  a  simi- 
lar manner,  by  supposing  the  gradual  sinking  of  the  strata 
under  the  sea,  and  their  subsequent  elevation  into  a  basin 
to  receive  the  detritus  of  the  land.  This  subsidence  and 
elevation  is  supposed  to  have  been  gradual,  and  the  work 
of  long  periods  of  time  ;  yet  it  must  be  admitted  that,  like 
the  theories  proposed  for  the  deposition  of  the  coal,  a 
great  deal  of  special  pleading  has  to  be  employed  to  make 
all  the  points  of  the  proposition  harmonize. 

The  fishes  of  the  "YVealden  are  specifically  different  from 


THE  CRETACEOUS  OR  CHALK  STRATA.        281 

those  of  the  succeeding  strata,  and  belong  principally  to 
the  genera  Pycuodus,  Lepidotus,  and  Hybodus.  Several 
species  of  crocodiles  have  been  identified,  as  well  as  large 
numbers  of  turtles.  The  most  remarkable  animal,  how- 
ever, was  the  Iguanodon — a  monster  reptile,  occupying 
the  same  relation  to  its  species,  as  to  size,  that  the  ele- 
phant does  to  the  mammalia.  Although  detached  bones 
and  teeth  only  have  been  found,  these  serve  to  identify 
it  with  species  existing  in  St.  Domingo,  and  which  are 
herbivorous  and  terrestrial.  There  were  several  other 
enormous  and  peculiar  reptiles  in  this  epoch,  including 
some  which  flourished  previously.  Of  these,  the  ptero- 
dactyle  still  survived;  but  notwithstanding  its  supposed 
depredations  upon  insects,  these  latter  exhibit  an  extra- 
ordinary increase,  and  many  new  genera  were  introduced, 
evidently  for  the  first  time. 

We  now  reach  the  last  group,  in  ascending  order,  in 
the  great  Secondary  formation,  namely,  the  Cretaceous. 
Geologists  apply  this  name  to  it  in  consequence  of  its  im- 
mense strata  of  chalk,  although  in  the  United  States  these 
layers  are  wholly  absent.  It  is,  however,  supposed 
that  the  chalk  is  here  represented  by  cotemporary  layers 
of  ferruginous  sand  ;  but  as  the  identity  of  fossils  is  not 
clear,  they  may  yet  call  for  some  special  distinction  as  to 
time  or  the  operating  circumstances  of  their  deposition. 

The  strata  of  this  extensive  and  widely-diffused  system 
are  literally  made  up  from  the  spoils  of  the  ancient  seas — 
embracing  coral  reefs,  and  sponges,  the  shells  of  belem- 
nites,  ammonites,  baculites,  turrilites,  and  the  bones  of 
fishes,  reptiles,  and  other  animal  remains,  with  fragments 
of  plants  and  sea-weeds.  The  vegetation  alone  was 
inferior,  and  consisted  almost  exclusively  of  marine  plants 
—those  long,  slender  grasses  which  still  grow  along  the 
shallow  coasts,  and  in  the  stagnant  rivers  and  lakes  of  the 
present  era.  There  was  hardly  a  trace  of  land  vegetation, 


232  THE   FIFTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

except  a  few  specimens  of  palms  and  cycadese.  Even  the 
ferns,  whose  beautiful  and  diversified  leaves  were  scattered 
in-'  every  rock  from  the  foundation  of  the  earth,  had  now 
temporarily  disappeared,  or  were  but  obscurely  represented 
by  one  or  two  species 

The  microscope  establishes  the  interesting  fact  of  the 
origin  of  the  chalk  strata,  wherever  they  occur  in  Europe, 
from  the  shells  and  secretions  of  marine  animals.  During 
the  Oolite,  and  previously,  the  minute  Radiata,  with  the 
co-operation  of  the  higher  shelled  animals  and  crustaceans, 
built  many  islands  in  the  midst  of  the  ocean,  some  of  them 
extending  hundreds  of  miles,  in  every  direction.  Their 
instincts,  as  we  have  before  observed,  lead  them  to  com- 
bine together  in  the  form  of  trees,  or  incrusting  or  hang- 
ing from  rocks.  To  do  this,  they  are  supplied  with  a 
sticky  paste  which  they  secrete  in  large  quantities,  and 
thereby  elaborate  carbonate  of  lime  from  the  water  which 
they  inhabit.  When  the  ocean  became  dotted  with 
these  coral  reefs,  new  animals  made  their  appearance, 
who  browsed  upon  them  like  cattle  in  luxuriant  meadows. 
This  is  still  done  by  certain  fish  in  the  coral  islands  of  the 
Pacific,  and  in  opening  them  their  intestines  are  found 
invariably  to  be  filled  with  a  calcareous  excrement  and 
with  milky  juices.  Besides  the  fish,  there  were  also  pecu- 
liar worms  that  bored  into  the  porous  coral,  and  elaborated 
a  similar  juicy  excrement.  The  disturbing  operations  of 
these  animals,  aided  by  the  friction  of  the  waves,  finally 
wore  down  the  coralline  islands,  and  impregnated  the 
waters  with  fine  calcareous  mud.  The  seas,  all  over 
Europe,  where  these  strata  are  found,  were  white  and 
milky  with  the  thin  detritus  thus  held  in  suspension 
by  the  water;  and  the  natural  result  was  its  transporta- 
tion to  the  adjacent  shallow  coasts,  where  it  would  be 
precipitated  in  the  form  of  sticky  chalk,  and  upon  the 
subsequent  elevation  of  the  strata,  the  whole  would  solidify 


THE   CRETACEOUS   OR   OHALK   STRATA.  283 

under  the  ordinary  drainage  of  interior  springs  and  rivers, 
as  well  as  by  means  of  rain  and  snow,  in  the  manner  of 
stalagmites.  The  same  process,  or  the  first  stage  of  it, 
is  still  in  operation  in  all  the  coralline  islands  of  the  Pacific; 
and  it  has  been  found,  on  comparison,  and  under  the 
microscope,  that  there  is  no  difference  between  the  cal- 
careous mud  around  them  and  that  of  the  ancient  chalk.  • 
The  accumulation  of  layer  after  layer,  in  this  manner,  was 
in  many  respects  similar  to  the  deposition  of  the  coal 
strata.  Many  of  the  beds  of  limestone  of  previous  forma- 
tions have  originated  in  precisely  the  same  manner ;  but 
having  afterward  been  subjected  to  heat  and  pressure,  the 
stone  has  been  changed,  and  the  impressions  of  the  poly- 
paria  obliterated.  Were  these  beds  of  chalk  exposed  to  slow 
heat,  under  pressure,  they  would  crystallize,  and  be  con- 
verted into  the  finest  granular  marble. 

The  fossils  of  the  chalk  are  specifically  distinct  from 
those  of  the  subsequent  Tertiary  formation.  They  are 
the  finely  sculptured  spoils  of  an  ocean  which  rivaled  the 
Atlantic  and  the  Pacific  in  extent,  and  which  it  must  have 
required  vast  ages  to  accumulate — strewn,  as  they  now 
are,  over  large  portions  of  Great  Britain,  France,  Russia, 
Germany,  Sweden,  and  Denmark,  as  well  as  in  Asia  and 
Africa. 

In  some  of  the  layers  of  chalk,  in  Europe,  there  is  a 
large  admixture  of  flint,  which  often  indicates  the  plane 
of  stratification  of  the  beds.  These  silicious  nodules  are 
the  remains  of  animal  sponges,  sea  urchins,  and  other 
minute  creatures,  whose  spicular  secretions  were  silicious 
instead  of  calcareous.  Among  the  shells  preserved  in  the 
chalk,  are  the  Tenebratula,  which  has  appeared  in  almost 
every  previous  era,  but  began  to  dwindle  away  upon  its 
approach  to  this.  The  Belemnite  made  its  appearance  in 
the  Oolite,  and  is  remarkable  for  having  been  supplied 
with  an  ink-bag,  by  which,  upon  occasions  of  danger,  it 


284  THE    FIFTH    DAY — GEOLOGICAL, 

was  enabled  to  muddle  the  water  around  it,  and  thus  pro- 
tect itself  from  attack.  Among  the  great  variety  of  the 
fossil  shells,  some  of  them  were  very  beautiful  and  highly 
sculptured,  as  those  of  Turrelites,  Ostrea,  Scaphites, 
Hamites,  etc.  The  Saurian  animals,,  which  flourished  so 
extensively  in  previous  eras,  began  rapidly  to  diminish ; 
while  even  fishes  were  comparatively  scarce.  Among 'the 
former,  however,  was  a  monster  called  the  Moscesaurus, 
which  measured  twenty-five  feet  in  length,  and  the  ana- 
tomical structure  of  which  is  presumed  to  have  been  inter- 
mediate between  that  of  the  Iguanodon  and  the  Monitor. 
Crocodiles  and  turtles  existed,  but  without  material  change 
from  the  preceding  era.  Bones  of  birds  have  also  been 
found,  in  various  places,  in  these  strata. 

Included  in  the  Cretaceous  group,  but  below  the  chalk, 
is  a  deposit  which  always  accompanies  it,  called  the  green 
sand.  It  embraces  layers  sometimes  eight  or  nine  hun- 
dred feet  thick,  and  consists  mainly  of  sharp  silicious 
sand,  intermixed,  or  sometimes  interstratified  with  marly 
calcareous  sand,  an^laminaB  of  mica.  The  lower  benches 
alternate  with  ferruginous  sands,  and  beds  of  clay  and 
sand,  with  seams  of  hard  limestone  and  chert.  Although 
the  deposit  is  generally  stratified,  it  is  yet  thoroughly  in- 
termixed, as  if  the  sea  had  been  charged  with  the  drainage 
of  extensive  rivers  in  addition  to  the  silicious  and  calcare- 
ous remains  of  its  own  waters. 

The  Cretaceous  group  of  the  United  States  is  very  ex- 
tensively developed  along  the  Atlantic  coast  in  Rhode 
Island,  New  Jersey,  and  Delaware ;  while  the  whole  vast 
region  of  country  in  the  southwest,  which  we  had  fre- 
quent occasion  to  refer  to  while  discussing  the  coal  period, 
as  having  then  been  under  the  dominion  of  the  ocean,  was 
redeemed  during  this  period.  The  region  we  allude  to 
would,  of  itself,  form  no  inconsiderable  ocean  ;  including, 
as  it  does,  a  large  portion  of  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Ten- 


THE  ORETAL£OUS  STRATA.  235 

nessee,  Arkansas,  Texas,  Missouri,  Kansas,  and  Nebraska. 
All  this  vast  space  belongs  to  the  Cretaceous  era,  and  was 
only  redeemed  from  the  sea  toward  the  dawn  of  the  sixth 
day.  A  large  portion  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  Upper 
Missouri  traverse  the  Cretaceous  strata ;  and  it  is  a  sin 
gular  fact,  that  such  is  the  porous  nature  of  the  soil  adja- 
cent to  those  mighty  rivers,  that  they  absorb  the  great 
bulk  of  their  surplus  of  water  during  times  of  extensive 
overflow,  and  return  it  during  seasons  of  drought.  This 
fact  is  frequently  illustrated  at  a  distance  of  more  than 
thirty  miles  from  the  Mississippi — the  wells  dug  in  the 
earth  alternately  yielding  and  withholding  supplies  of 
water  with  the  varying  volume  of  th*e  river  itself!  If, 
by  any  convulsion  of  nature,  the  lower  valley  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi should  sink  but  a  few  feet  below  its  present 
level,  the  ocean  would  again  invade  it,  and  it  would  be- 
come, what  it  was  before,  a  mere  adjunct  of  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico. 

The  Cretaceous  strata  of  New  Jersey  consist  principally 
of  green  sand  and  green  marl,  with  seams  of  coralline 
limestone  overlying,  containing  fossils  which  Prof.  Lyell 
thinks  agree,  upon  the  whole,  with  those  of  the  Upper 
European  beds.  He  collected  some  sixty  shells,  of  which 
five  were  identical  with  the  European  species,  while  others 
were  cretaceous  in  their  generic  forms.  Fifteen  out  of 
the  sixty  shells  were  regarded  by  Prof.  Forbes  as  good 
geographical  representatives  of  well-known  cretaceous 
fossils  of  Europe. 

The  Secondary  Formation,  comprehending  the  New  Red 
Sandstone,  the  Lias,  Oolite,  Wealden,  and  the  Cretaceous 
systems  of  rocks,  occupies  very  extensive  areas  in  North 
America,  or  rather  that  portion  of  it  belonging  to  the 
United  States,  for  these  rocks  nowhere  occur  to  any  ex- 
tent outside  of  our  political  confederation.  This  may 
account,  in  some  measure,  for  the  superior  fertility  and 


286  THE   FIFTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

variety  of  our  soil ;  nevertheless,  the  fact  is  a  singular 
one,  when  we  consider  that,  large  as  is  our  domain,  it 
does  not  comprise  one-sixth  part  of  that  vast  and  almost 
uninhabited  portion  lying  to  the  north,  and  embracing 
the  Canadas  and  Russian  and  British  America,  But  the 
reason  may  be  explained  by  remembering  what  we  havo 
before  stated,  viz.,  that  nearly  the  whole  of  the  North 
American  continent  was  elevated  during  the  Metamorphio 
and  the  Carboniferous  eras,  and  that  it  was  in  all  proba- 
bility the  first,  as  it  was  incomparably  the  largest,  tract 
of  country  ever  redeemed  from  the  primitive  seas,  at  any 
one  period.  In  South  America,  the  Secondary  rocks 
scarcely  occur  at  all — there  being  but  two  or  three  iso- 
lated little  districts  in  Peru  and  Venezuela  in  which  they 
are  represented.  In  proportion  to  the  surface,  the  great- 
est development  of  these  rocks  is  in  Continental  Europe. 
A.  large  portion  of  that  country  lying  between  the  Medi- 
terranean on  the  south,  the  Caspian  Sea  and  Persian 
Gulf  on  the  east,  the  Baltic  on  the  northwest,  and  the 
Ural  mountains,  in  Russia,  on  the  east,  was  occupied  by 
these  seas  during  the  period  in  question — there  having 
been,  here  and  there,  little  islands  of  the  primitive  rocks 
scattered  irregularly  through  the  great  field  of  waters. 
We  accordingly  find  the  Secondary  rocks  in  the  ascend- 
ant in  Ireland,  England,  France,  Germany,  Portugal, 
Spain,  Austria,  Turkey,  Syria,  Russia,  and  that  portion 
of  Persia  along  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Mediterranean, 
and  north  of  the  Euphrates.  The  Secondary  strata  are 
very  sparingly  exhibited  in  Asia  and  Africa,  except  that 
in  the  latter  they  form  a  zone  from  the  Red  Sea  west 
through  Tripoli  and  Algiers  to  the  Atlantic  coast — having 
the  great  desert  of  Sahara  on  the  south,  and  the  Mediter- 
ranean sea  on  the  north.  Small  districts  have  been  ascer- 
tained to  exist  in  China  and  Japan  ;  but  little  is  as  yet 


THE    ERA    OF    AQUEOUS   LIFE.  28 7 

known  of  the  geological  structure  of  either  of  these  vast 
regions. 

Now,  in  the  beginning  of  the  great  Secondary  Forma- 
tion (or  the  Fifth  Day),  God  commanded  the  "  waters  to 
bring  forth  abundantly  the  moving  creature  that  hath  life, 
and  fowl  that  may  fly  above  the  earth,  in  the  open  firma- 
ment of  heaven. "  While  we  are  left  to  infer  the  previous 
existence  of  marine  life,  as  before  suggested,  the  waters 
are  now  commanded  to  bring  forth  abundantly ; — and  God 
blessed  the  creatures  thus  produced,  and  ordered  them 
still  to  increase  and  multiply,  and  "  to  fill  the  waters  in  the 
seas."  Have  we  not  just  seen  an  absolute  and  literal  ful- 
fillment of  this  order  ?  Was  not  sea  after  sea  gradually 
filled  up  with  the  countless  millions  of  corals,  molluscans, 
crustaceans,  fish,  and  enormous  reptiles  ?  l?he  whales 
which,  in  the  cold  seas  of  the  north,  attain  a  length  of 
ninety  feet,  in  the  torrid  climate  that  then  prevailed,  when 
every  other  creature  expanded  into  giant-like  proportions, 
became  absolutely  too  monstrous  to  frequent  the  shallow 
seas  thus  gradually  being  redeemed  from  the  ocean,  and 
it  is  only  in  the  deep  waters  of  the  ensuing  Tertiary  that 
we  can  reasonably  hope  to  meet  their  fossilized  remains. 
But  with  the  seas  thus  redeemed  and  laid  open  to  our  in- 
spection, we  see  the  extraordinary  and  wonderful  devel- 
opment of  marine  life  ;  and  no  one  can  fail  to  perceive  in 
their  fossil  remains  the  complete  and  overwhelming  reali- 
zation of  the  divine  injunction,  nor  to  acknowledge,  with 
profound  humility,  the  power  and  majesty  of  the  great 
Creator.  But  not  only  of  the  seas  :  the  atmosphere  hav- 
ing now,  for  the  first  time,  become  clear,  buoyant,  and 
open,  was  fitted  to  support  the  winged  messengers  of  the 
air ;  and  accordingly  we  early  find  the  imprints  of  their 
feet,  and  then,  at  every  successive  stage,  tteir  fossilized 
bones — thus  showing  that  they,  too,  promptly  responded  to 
the  creative  order.  During  the  coal  period,  such  a  com- 
19 


288  THE   FIFTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

mand  would  evidently  have  been  premature  ;  but  Moses, 
comprehending  the  true  circumstances  of  each  period,  has 
introduced  the  order  of  creation  precisely  as  it  occurred. 

Thus,  in  response  to  the  divine  word,  the  seas  were 
rippled  and  foamy  with  the  living  creatures  that  filled 
them ;  the  air  was  blackened  with  flocks  of  birds,  of 
varied  plumage ;  while  colossal  fowls,  to  which  the  eagle 
or  the  racing  ostrich  of  the  desert  are  as  pigmies,  screeched 
discordantly  along  the  margin  of  the  ocean  inlets,  or 
waded  shallow  lakes  in  search  of  food  ;  enormous  whales, 
and  fish,  and  minute  corals,  filled  the  seas ;  crawling  rep- 
tiles, and  scaly  crocodiles,  and  lizards,  crowded  the  muddy 
marshes,  and  wallowed  in  stagnant  pools.;  aquatic  fowls 
and  pterodactyles  skimmed  the  lakes  and  rivers ;  while 
soaring  birds  spread  their  pinions  in  the  breeze  !  So  com- 
pletely and  so  perfectly  was  this  command  realized,  that 
we  may  say  with  entire  truth,  "the  dust  we  now  tread 
upon  was  once  alive." 

And  God  said,  Let  the  waters  generate 
Reptile  with  spawn  abundant,  living  soul; 
And  let  fowl  fly  above  the  earth,  with  wings 
Displayed  on  the  open  firmament  of  heaven 
And  God  created  the  great  whales,  and  each 
Soul  living,  each  that  crept,  which  plenteously 
The  waters  generated  by  their  kinds, 
And  every  bird  of  wing  after  his  kind  ; 
And  saw  that  it  was  good,  and  blessed  them,  saying, 
Be  fruitful,  multiply,  and  in  the  seas, 
And  lakes,  and  running  streams,  the  waters  fill; 
And  let  the  fowl  be  multiplied  on  the  earth. 
Forthwith  the  sounds  and  seas,  each  creek  and  bay, 
With  fry  innumerable  swarm,  and  shoals 
Of  fish,  that  with  their  fins  and  shining  scales, 
Glide  under  the  green  wave,  in  sculls  that  oft 
Bank  the  mid  sea ;  part  single,  or  with  mate,4 
Graze  the  sea-weed,  their  pasture,  and  through  grovei 
Of  coral  stray,  or  sporting  with  quick  glance, 
Show  to  the  sun  their  waved  coats  dropt  with  gold ; 


MILTON'S  FIFTH  DAT.  289 

Or  in  their  pearly  shells  at  ease  attend 

Moist  nutriment,  or  under  rocks  their  food 

In  jointed  armor  watch  ;  on  smooth  the  seal 

And  bended  dolphins  play  ;  part  huge  of  bulk, 

Wallowing  unwieldy,  enormous  in  their  gait, 

Tempest  the  ocean ;  there  Leviathan, 

Hugest  of  living  creatures,  on  the  deep 

Stretched  like  a  promontory  sleeps,  or  swims 

And  seems  a  moving  land,  and  at  his  gills 

Draws  in,  and  at  his  trunk  spouts  out,  a  sea. 

Meanwhile  the  tepid  caves,  and  fens,  and  shores,' 

Their  brood  as  numerous  hatch  from  the  egg,  that  sooB 

Bursting  with  kindly  rupture  forth  discharged 

Their  callow  young ;  but  feathered  soon  and  fledge, 

They  summed  their  pens,  and  soaring  the  air  sublime 

With  clang  despised  the  ground,  under  a  cloud 

In  prospect :  there  the  eagle  and  the  stork 

On  cliffs  and  cedar  tops  their  eyries  build  : 

Part  loosely  wing  the  region,  part  more  wise 

In  common  ranged  in  figure  wedge  their  way, 

Intelligent  of  seasons,  and  set  forth 

Their  airy  caravan,  high  over  seas 

Flying,  and  over  lands,  with  mutual  wing 

Easing  their  flight;  so  steers  the  prudent  crane 

Her  annual  voyage,  borne  on  winds;  the  air 

Floats,  as  they  pass,  fanned  with  unnumbered  plumes. 

From  branch  to  branch  the  smaller  birds  with  song 

Solaced  the  woods,  and  spread  their  painted  wings 

Till  even ;  nor  then  the  solemn  nightingale 

Ceased  warbling,  but  all  night  tuned  her  soft  lays, 

Others  on  silver  lakes  and  rivers  bathed 

Their  downy  breast;  the  swan,  with  arcbe'd  neck 

Between  her  white  wings  mantling  proudly,  rows 

Her  state  with  oary  feet;  yet  soft  they  quit 

The  dank,  and  rising  on  swift  pennons,  tower 

The  mid  aerial  sky.     Others  on  ground 

Walked  firm ;  the  crested  cock,  whose  clarion  sounda 

The  silent  hours,  and  the  other,  whose  gay  trait 

Adorns  him,  colored  with  the  florid  hue 

Of  rainbows  and  starry  eyes.     The  waters  thus 

With  fish  replenished,  and  the  air  with  fowl, 

Evening  and  morn  solemnized  the  Fifth  Day. — Milton. 


THE  SIXTH  DAY— GEOLOGICAL. 

24  And  God  said,  Let  the  earth  bring  forth  the  living  creature  after  his 
kind,  cattle,  and  creeping  thing,  and  beast  of  the  earth  after  his  kind : 
and  it  was  so.  25  And  God  made  the  beast  of  the  earth  after  his  kind, 
and  cattle  after  their  kind,  and  every  thing  that  creepeth  upon  the  earth 
after  his  kind:  and  God  saw  that  it  was  good.  26  And  God  said,  Let  us 
make  man  in  our  image,  after  otr  likeness  ;  and  let  them  have  dominion 
over  the  tish  of  the  sea,  and  over  the  fowl  of  the  air,  and  over  the  cattle, 
And  over  all  the  earth,  and  over  every  creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon 
the  earth.  27  So  God  created  man  in  his  own  image,  in  the  image  of  God 
created  he  him;  male  and  female  created  he  them.  28  And  God  blessed 
them,  and  God  said  unto  them,  Be  fruitful,  and  multiply,  and  replenish 
the  earth,  and  subdue  it :  and  have  dominion  over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and 
over  the  fowl  of  the  air,  and  over  every  living  thing  that  moveth  upon 
the  earth.  29  And  God  said,  Behold,  I  have  given  you  every  herb  bear- 
ing seed,  which  is  upon  the  face  of  all  the  earth,  and  every  tree,  in  the 
which  is  the  fruit  of  a  tree  yielding  seed  :  to  you  it  shall  be  for  meat. 
30  And  to  every  beast  of  the  earth,  and  to  every  fowl  of  the  air,  and  to 
every  thing  that  creepeth  upon  the  earth,  wherein  there  is  life,  I  have 
given  every  green  herb  for  meat:  and  it  was  so.  31  And  God  saw  every 
thing  he  had  made,  and,  behold,  it  was  very  good.  And  the  evening  and 
the  morning  were  the  sixth  day. 

THE  extensive  formation  now  known  as  the  Tertiary, 
not  a  great  many  years  ago,  was  included  with  that  of 
the  Alluvium,  or  modern  formation.  The  investigations 
of  Cuvier  and  Brongniart,  of  the  strata  immediately  sur- 
rounding the  city  of  Paris,  in  1810,  established  the  fact 
of  the  existence  of  a  series  of  strata,  of  marine,  river, 
lake,  volcanic  and  land  origin,  which,  on  account  of  the 
extent,  variety,  and  character  of  their  fossils,  were  enti- 
tled to  the  rank  of  a  separate  and  independent  forma- 
(290) 


THE   TERTIARY   FORMATION.  291 

tion.  Since  that  time,  similar  strata  have  been  examined 
elsewhere  in  England,  France,  Germany,  and  numerous 
portions  of  Continental  Europe,  the  fossils  of  which, 
while  they  exhibi!  a  gradual  transition  toward  those  of 
existing  species,  in  other  respects  point  to  an  era  at  once 
independent  and  isolated  from  the  past  or  the  present. 
It  appeared  from  the  researches  of  Deshayes,  in  France, 
on  the  fossil  shells  of  this  interesting  formation,  that  it 
naturally  arranges  itself  into  three  leading  groups  or  di- 
visions, as  determined  by  their  approaches  to  the  character 
of  existing  species.  Thus,  the  fossils  of  the  oldest  group 
show  an  average  of  about  four  per  cent.,  as  compared 
with  the  species  now  living  on  the  earth ;  those  of  the 
middle  group  exhibit  about  eighteen  to  twenty  per  cent., 
while  those  of  the  third,  or  upper  group,  have  fifty  per 
cent.  Prof.  Lyell,  availing  himself  of  this  Paleontolo- 
gical  discovery,  called  the  older  strata  Eocene,  the  middle 
Miocene,  and  the  upper  Pliocene ;  but,  as  if  this  were 
not  sufficiently  comprehensive,  he  afterward  erected  sev- 
eral sub-groups,  as  the  upper,  middle,  and  lower  Eocene, 
and  the  newer  and  older  Pliocene.  He  also  introduced 
various  other  local  and  general  names  for  particular  strata  ; 
so  that,  although  the  whole  formation  is  comparatively 
new  in  geological  discovery,  it  is  already  characterized 
by  as  many  technical  names  and  local  sub-divisions,  as 
that  of  any  other.  The  names  proposed  by  Lyell,  how- 
ever, in  this  case,  are  sufficiently  simple,  and  they  have 
consequently  been  generally  adopted;  they  indicate  the 
gradual  transition  of  one  stage  into  another,  until  finally 
arriving  at  the  post-Pliocene,  diluvium,  or  boulder  strata, 
we  find  ourselves  surrounded  by  the  physical  debris  of 
the  present — by  that  genial  Sabbath  of  Nature,  during 
which  the  work  of  Creation  ceased,  and  the  great 
Author  rested  from  his  creative  labor.  The  transition 
from  stage  to  stage  is  very  gradual,  and  sometimes 


292  THE   SIXTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

scarcely  perceptible ;  for  beginning  with  an  identity  of 
but  three  or  four  per  cent,  of  the  molluscan  fossils,  the 
last  sub-group  of  the  Tertiary  contains  no  less  than  nine- 
ty-four per  cent,  of  species  now  inhabiting  the  adjacent 
seas  and  lakes.  A  description  of  the  Tertiary,  however, 
in  consequence  of  the  technical  names  being  new,  and 
owing  to  the  numerous  subordinate  groups  into  which 
Lyell  and  others  separate  it,  is  not  only  difficult,  but 
somewhat  unsatisfactory.  Mr.  Lyell  devotes  fifty-five 
pages  of  his  Elements  to  its  consideration,  of  which 
nearly  one  half  are  actually  occupied  in  explanations  of 
a  purely  technical  character; — that  is,  they  have  little 
bearing  directly  upon  the  elucidation  of  the  subject  as  a 
whole.  The  first  part  of  the  formation  was  exclusively 
marine — a  continuation,  under  different  features,  of  the 
Cretaceous  ;  the  middle  part  was  also  principally  aqueous, 
but  exhibits  a  strong  tendency  in  its  fossils  tovthe  fauna 
and  flora  of  the  present,  accompanied  by  the  introduction, 
for  the  first  time,  of  land  animals  of  prevailing  genera 
and  species.  The  latter  part  was  distinguised  by  intense 
and  wide-spread  volcanic  action ;  the  change  of  land  into 
sea,  and  of  sea  into  land  ;  by  the  elevation  of  mountain 
systems,  the  prevalence  of  universal  cataclysms,  the  dif- 
fusion of  erratic  boulders,  icebergs,  and  moraines,  and 
finally  terminated  by  gradually  merging  into  the  geolo- 
gical laws  now  in  force. 

The  Nummulite  rocks  of  the  Swiss  Alps,  and  of  the 
Pyrenees,  are  the  oldest  members  of  the  Tertiary  group 
in  Europe.  Indeed,  some  geologists  are  disposed  to  rank 
them  with  the  preceding  Cretaceous  system  ;  but  although 
they  are  elevated  nine  or  ten  thousand  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea,  the  fossils  they  contain  are  very  similar 
to  those  of  the  Paris  and  London  basins.  They  consist  of 
limestone,  slate,  marl,  and  sandstone  of  various  colors 
and  textures,  and  nearly  all  abounding  in  the  character- 


TERTIARY   ROCKS   OF   EUROPK.  293 

ristic  fossils  of  the  Nummulite.  From  their  resemblance 
to  metallic  coins,  these  fossils  were  formerly  called  by  the 
Germans  devil's  money,  and  formed  the  theme  of  many  a 
wonderful  legend  and  romance.  The  strata  often  attain 
a  thickness  of  several  thousand  feet,  and  besides  their 
wide  distribution  in  Europe,  in  isolated  basins,  they 
occur  extensively  in  Asia,  Africa,  and  America.  In  cer- 
tain portions  of  the  Alps,  where  they  have  been  disturbed 
and  exposed  to  heat,  they  have  been  changed  into  crys- 
talline marble,  quartz  rock,  and  mica-schist. 

The  Tertiary  formation,  as  developed  in  different  parts 
of  England,  exhibits  considerable  variation  in  lithological 
character.  It  is  generally  at  least  two  thousand  feet 
thick,  without  counting  absent  strata,  some  of  which,  but 
generally  the  upper,  are  always  wanting.  It  is  seldom, 
therefore,  that  the  complete  formation  is  found  in  one 
region ;  if  it  were,  the  aggregate  thickness  would  be 
immense.  In  England,  it  is  well  represented  in  Hamp- 
shire and  the  Isle  of  Wight,  and  the  order  of  superposi- 
tion (without  regard  to  LyelPs  Miocene  and  Eocenes)  may 
be  stated  as  consisting  of,  1.  sar^ds  and  plastic  clays,  the 
latter  being  extensively  used  in  England,  Germany,  and 
France,  in  the  manufacture  of  pottery  ware ;  2.  the 
London  clay,  so-called  because  the  cities  of  London  and 
Paris  are  both  erected  on  such  a  stratum,  and  which  is 
also  used  to  some  extent  in  manufactures,  especially  brick ; 
3.  fresh- water  debris,  comprising  river  sands,  calcareous 
inarl  and  mud,  and  river  shells  and  land  plants  ;  4.  clay  and 
marl  with  marine  shells,  but  of  different  species  from  those 
of  the  lower  London  clay ;  5.  upper  fresh- water  deposits, 
including  white  and  green  marls,  and  calcareous  lime- 
stones, which  form  an  almost  solid  aggregation  of  fresh- 
water shells,  principally^  of  Paludina  concinna,  Lymnea 
pyramidalis,  and  Planorbis  euomphalus.  The  Paludina 
have  a  spiral  termination,  but  are  scarcely  larger  than  a 


294  THE   SIXTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

grain  of  wheat;  nevertheless  they  often  constitute  the 
great  bulk  of  the  solid  contents  of  the  rocks  in  which  they 
are  imbedded.  The  fossils  of  the  London  clay  consist 
largely  of  Cassidaria  carinati,  Pleurotoma  prisca,  Trochus 
agglutinans,  and  Turritella  edita,  (also  a  spiral,  but  very 
long  and  slender.)  Fragments  of  trees  are  found  which, 
although  converted  into  hard  stone,  still  exhibit  the  per- 
forations of  the  Teredinae,  a  boring  mollusc,  nearly  related 
to  the  Teredo,  the  pest  of  the  Indian  seas.  In  the  Paris 
basin,  besides  the  usual  alternation  of  marine  and  fresh- 
water deposits,  there  occur  very  extensive  beds  of 
gypsum,  more  familiarly  known  as  plaster  of  Paris.  The 
liner  portions,  being  alabaster,  are  employed  in  the  arts 
of  sculpture,  especially  for  small  ornaments ;  while  the 
ordinary  gypsum,  containing  a  few  per  cent,  of  carbonate, 
in  addition  to  the  prevailing  sulphate  of  lime,  makes  an 
excellent  plaster  or  stucco  for  houses.  It  is  likewise 
valuable,  in  certain  cases,  as  a  fertilizer. 

The  vegetation  of  the  Tertiary  shows  a  remarkable  in- 
crease over  the  preceding  Cretaceous — in  fact  over  all  the 
groups  combined  of  the  Secondary  Formation.  It  is  a 
matter  of  no  astonishment,  therefore,  that  this  period 
should  have  produced  beds  of  coal — especially  as  there 
was  a  great  increase  of  coniferous  trees,  perhaps  nearly 
equal  to  that  of  the  carboniferous  era.  To  this  fact  (which 
is  one  deserving  particular  notice,  since  not  a  trace  of 
these  trees  is  to  be  found  in  the  era  immediately  preced- 
ing) may  be  attributed  many  of  those  isolated  deposits 
of  lignite,  mineral  bitumen,  pitch,  and  impure  vege- 
table gums,  oils,  and  resins,  so  plentifully  distributed 
in  basins  over  the  earth.  These  same  trees,  with  those 
of  the  Cycadeas,  had  also  a  prolific  development  during  the 
Oolitic  period,  and  the  result  was  the  deposition  of  such 
coal  basins  as  that  near  Richmond,  in  Virginia,  which,  in 
consequence  of  its  greater  age,  is  more  completely  miner- 


FOSSILS   OP   THE   TERTIARY.  2  9  5 

alized  than  those  of  the  Tertiary  period.  Whenever  these 
trees  occur,  there  is  coal ;  but  whenever  they  do  not  occur, 
there  is  none  ;  and  the  coincidence  is  full  of  significance 
in  connection  with  the  theory  of  the  origin  of  coal  which 
I  have  proposed  in  this  work.  But  besides  the  coniferae, 
there  was  an  equal,  if  not  a  greater  development  of  other 
dicotyledonous  trees,  and  of  species  allied  to  those  now 
existing  in  the  forests  of  the  earth.  Among  these  may  be 
mentioned  the  families  of  poplars,  willows,  elms,  sycamores, 
maples,  birches,  magnolias,  oaks,  etc.  The  monocoty- 
ledons also  were  developed  to  a  greater  extent  than  ever 
before,  and  are  represented  at  the  present  time  by  more 
than  one  thousand  species,  principally  of  palms,  naiades, 
and  tropical  trees.  The  ferns  and  mosses  were  also  more 
numerous,  as  well  as  marine  plants  and  weeds  ;  but  all  the 
other  varieties  which  distinguished  the  carboniferous  era, 
and  which  are  usually  supposed  to  have  furnished  the 
great  bulk  of  its  coal,  have  no  fossil  representations 
whatever. 

The  Infusoria  and  Polyparia,  which  flourished  in 
nearly  every  preceding  era,  still  continued,  on  a  scale  of 
even  increased  magnitude,  their  extended  operations  in  the 
bottoms  of  seas.  Yast  beds  of  limestone  and  silicious 
concretions  have  been  elevated  from  the  ocean,  which  are 
literally  derived  from  their  delicate  secretions  and  the  re- 
mains of  their  minute  skeletons.  Insects,  which  ap- 
peared irregularly,  and  with  the  varying  development  of 
vegetation,  again  spring  into  existence,  after  their  total 
absence  during  the  Cretaceous  period.  They  began  grad- 
ually to  increase  from  the  dawn  of  the  Tertiary,  and  at 
its  close  were  more  numerous  than  ever  before,  and 
scarcely  less  so  than  at  the  present  moment.  Spiders, 
scorpions,  serpulae,  and  other  articulated  creatures,  also 
expanded  very  materially  over  previous  periods ;  but  there 
was  no  perceptible  increase  of  marine  molluscs,  except  in 


296  THE   SIXTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

Nummulites,  Miliotites,  and  other  microscopic  shell  ani- 
mals, and  in  the  variety  of  land  and  fresh-water  testacea. 
These  latter  were  evidently  as  numerous  dur'ng  the  Ter- 
tiary as  they  are  now,  and,  as  has  already  been  suggested, 
were  superseded  by  the  present  species.  The  most  ex- 
traordinary change  in  the  marine  fauna  of  the  Tertiary 
was  in  Fishes ;  and  in  this,  as  in  every  other  movement 
affecting  the  animal  species,  the  infidel  theory  of  pro- 
gressive development,  or  of  gradual  infusion  of  a  lower 
species  into  a  higher  order  of  creation,  is  at  once  utterly 
disproved  and  annihilated.  Nearly  every  leading  compa- 
rative anatomist  has  adopted  a  system  of  classification  of 
his  own ;  and,  in  dealing  with  the  ancient  fishes  espe- 
cially, there  is  necessarily  abundant  room  for  diversity  of 
opinion.  The  animal  kingdom  is  divided  into  four  lead- 
ing parts — the  principal  one  being  the  Vertebrata,  which 
is  itself  divided  into  four  classes,  as  fishes,  reptiles,  birds, 
and  mammals.  Each  class,  in  turn,  is  arranged  into 
orders ;  the  orders  into  tribes ;  the  tribes  into  families  ; 
the  families  into  sub-families  or  genera,  and  the  genus 
into  species.  There  is  in  each  division,  a  central  nucleus, 
or  typical  characteristic  of  structure,  around  which  all 
the  individuals  can  be  arranged ;  and  the  only  difficulty 
that  has  arisen  has  been  as  to  which  division — species, 
genera,  family,  order,  or  class — the  individual  specimens 
properly  belong.  Cuvier,  and  most  of  the  older  ichthyo- 
logists, classified  the  extinct  and  living  classes  according 
to  their  internal  skeletons,  their  brain,  nervous,  genera- 
tive, and  circulatory  organs.  But  as  in  the  fossil  speci- 
mens it  was  often  impossible  to  determine  their  true 
character  by  these  tests  alone,  owing  to  their  imper- 
fect preservation,  Prof.  Agassiz  adopted  a  classification 
founded  mainly  on  the  structure  of  their  scales  and  that 
of  their  external  skeleton,  which  are  generally  not  only 
well  preserved,  but  very  often  the  only  portions  not  en- 


FISH   OF   THE   TERTIARY  297 

tirely  obliterated.  In  this  way  many  specimens  have 
been  identified,  which  defied  classification  according  to 
the  other  systems.  Agassiz,  therefore,  divided  the  fish, 
both  living  and  fossil,  into  four  orders, — the  Placoid, 
the  Ganoid,  the  Ctenoid,  and  the  Cycloid.  The  fish  of 
all  the  preceding  geological  eras,  up  to  that  of  the  Cre- 
taceous, belonged  to  the  two  orders  first  mentioned. 
The  Placoids  were  distinguished  by  having  their  body 
covered  with  broad  horny  and  enameled  plates,  with 
bristling  protuberances  like  the  teeth  of  a  file,  instead  of 
smooth  imbricated  scales  ;  and  for  presenting,  in  lieu  of 
a  well-defined  osseous  skeleton,  a  soft  cartilaginous  struc- 
ture. Of  the  six  families  which  the  order  comprised,  at 
least  two  have  typical  representatives  in  our  seas.  These 
are  the  sharks,  the  rays,  the  dog-fish,  and  some  other  car- 
tilaginous species — all  very  numerous  in  some  regions, 
and  the  first  occupying  to  the  creatures  of  the  deep,  the 
same  position  as  that  of  the  vulture  to  those  of  the  earth 
and  air.  The  shark  has  been  known  to  follow  in  the- 
track  of  vessels  for  hundreds  of  miles  in  quest  of  spoil ; 
and  to  attend,  with  eager  watchfulness,  during  naval  en- 
gagements, nothing  daunted  by  the  deadly  conflict  of 
arms,  ready  to  seize  the  human  victims  that  might  fall  a 
prey  to  their  voracious  jaws.  Some  of  the  species  of 
rays,  armed  with  stings,  (as  the  raia  pastinaca,)  or  with 
an  electric  apparatus  (as  the  torpedo  narke),  are  also  en- 
abled to  prey  upon  the  weaker  and  smaller  fishes  which 
they  encounter.  The  Placoids  and  Ganoids  appeared  for 
the  first  time  during  the  upper  Silurian  era,  but  flourished 
more  extensively  in  the  carboniferous  than  any  other  pe- 
riod. They  sent  out  lateral  families,  genera,  and  species 
at  different  times,  but  always  as  distinct  subordinate 
groups.  While  there  has  been  a  constant  variation  in 
evorv  progressive  formation  (the  old  families  running 
out  and  the  new  ones  coming  in)  the  general  features 


293  THE   SIXTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

that  characterized  the  order  as  a  whole  were  invariably 
distinct  and  separate.  And  while  some  of  their  typical 
representatives  are  as  distinct  and  numerous  now  as  those 
of  the  previous  eras,  they  remain  true  and  fixed  to  their 
ancient  instincts,  and  preserve,  in  some  measure,  the 
anatomy  and  family  features  peculiar  to  the  ancient 
types.  Through  all  the  changes  of  time  and  of  circum- 
stances, they  are  as  essentially  placoidian  to-day  as  other 
placoidians  were  in  the  far  remote  antiquity.  In  the 
great  mint  of  Creation,  generic  and  specific  moulds  have 
been  changed,  as  all  else  was  changed,  from  era  to  era ; 
but  no  one  but  a 'philosophic  fool  would  venture  to  infer 
from  thence  that  the  solid  gold  and  silver  of  the  stamped 
coins  has  been  basely  amalgamated.  Nature  has  never 
been  convicted  of  counterfeiting ;  on  the  contrary,  the 
integrity  of  her  stamp  has  ever  been  maintained,  from 
the  highest  to  the  lowest  of  her  creatures,  and  in  the 
face  of  the  most  wicked  and  outrageous  abuses.  To 
charge  her  with  infusing  lead  into  silver,  or  silver  into 
gold,  or  of  bringing  down  god-like  man  by  gradually 
merging  into  him  the  fishes  of  the  sea  and  the  crawling 
reptiles  of  the  land,  is  merely  equivalent  to  charging 
upon  the  Almighty  Creator  an  ultimate  design  of  merg- 
ing and  fusing  all  his  splendid  variety  of  created  life 
into  one  channel,  or  into  one  species  !  Such  an  idea  of 
fusion  or  of  development,  so  far  from  having  been 
contemplated  in  the  scheme  of  Creation,  is  absolutely  be- 
neath contempt.  And  yet  the  late  Hugh  Miller  wrote 
two  very  learned  and  elaborate  books,  mainly  to  confute 
it — as  if  a  bare-faced  libel  on  the  Almighty  needed  any 
refutation  whatever.  But  in  his  attempt  to  put  down 
the  theory  of  progressive  development,  he  suggested  an- 
other, scarcely  less  unfortunate  or  absurd — that  of  gradual 
degradation.  Much  respect  has  been  accorded  to  Miller 
,  because  of  his  zeal  in  behalf  of  religion ;  but  many  of 


FISHES   OP   THE   TERTIARY.  299 

his  propositions,  though  maintained  with  a  great  deal  of 
pseudo-scientific  acumen,  and  with  extraordinary  beauty 
and  force  of  diction,  are  utterly  untenable,  unphilosophic, 
and  insidiously  inimical  to  sound  truth.  His  pages  are 
full  of  special  pleadings  ;  and  often  proceeding  upon  ob- 
scure and  doubtful  premises — upon  an  isolated  shell,  or 
tooth,  or  stem,  or  algae — he  boldly  launches  out  into  the 
most  gorgeous  and  dashing  inductions,  cutting  hither  and 
thither,  and  putting  whole  armies  of  Lamarkians,  and 
Okens,  and  "  Vestiges"  to  flight,  like  another  Don  Quix- 
otte  vanquishing  a  drove  of  swine.  But  he  was  a  good  and 
a  great  man  ;  and  his  practical  explorations  of  the  old  Red 
Sandstone  are  among  the  most  valuable  contributions  to 
modern  geology.  He  was,  however,  more  of  a  poet  and  a 
word-painter  than  a  philosopher ;  and  loved  to  dally  with 
pretty  ideal  visions,  and  high-sounding  words,  rather  than 
to  pursue  stubborn  facts.  He  was  more  a  Theologist 
than  a  Geologist ;  and  while  he  deserves  credit  for  un- 
surpassed zeal  in  his  endeavors  to  harmonize  the  two,  he 
has  yet  placed  obstacles  between  them,  which  are  utterly 
insurmountable  upon  the  basis  of  scientific  and  philoso- 
phic inquiry. 

The  Ganoid  order  of  fishes  embraced  thirteen  different 
families,  most  of  them  numerous,  and  several  belonging  to 
the  Sauroid  type.  Like  the  Placoids,  this  order  was  most 
numerous  during  the  Carboniferous  period.  Their  body, 
like  that  of  alligators,  was  generally  inclosed  in  a  coat-of- 
niail — the  scales  being  hard  and  horny,  and  of  a  rhom- 
boidal  shape.  The  skeleton  was  more  bony  than  that  of 
the  Placoids,  but  less  than  those  of  Cycloids.  In  this 
particular  their  position  was  intermediate  between  the 
two,  but  in  other  respects  they  were  perfectly  distinct 
from  both.  The  sturgeon,  however,  which  belongs  to  the 
Ganoid  order,  has  a  cartilaginous  structure ;  but  differs 
from  the  shark  in  the  arrangement  of  its  gills,  which  re- 


300  THE    SIXTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL 

semble  those  of  the  true  fish.  Its  mouth  is  small,  and 
destitute  of  teeth,  and,  like  the  Cycloids,  its  head  is  cui- 
rassed,  and  supplied  with  bony  bucklers.  While  this  fish 
is  found  everywhere  in  the  ocean,  it  also  frequents  rivers, 
where  it  deposits  its  spawn.  During  the  Oolitic  period, 
as  we  mentioned  while  speaking  of  that  era,  the  Sauroid 
fish  had  an  extraordinary  development — but  those  varieties 
with  heterocircal  tails  were  utterly  extinguished,  and  no 
less  than  fourteen  genera,  with  homocircal  tails,  made 
their  appearance.  Of  these  genera,  two  representatives 
remain — the  Polypterus  of  the  Nile,  and  the  Li'pidasteus, 
or  pike,  of  our  American  rivers  and  lakes  Of  the  families 
of  Syngnathidce  and  Diodontidce,  several  types  exist,  but 
their  fossils  are  rare  in  the  Tertiary.  With  a  few  excep- 
tions, and  they  of  a  somewhat  doubtful  character,  the  true 
Saurian  fishes  all  expired  during  the  Cretaceous  period — 
a  period  which  effected  a  more  complete  and  general  revo- 
lution of  animated  nature  than  any  previous  era.  With 
the  simultaneous  and  almost  universal  extinction  of  the 
Ganoid  order,  and  of  the  Saurian  type,  those  of  the  Cte- 
noid and  Cycloid  made  their  appearance.  But  they  did 
not  come  gradually,  as  if  developed  from  the  extinct 
races,  their  immediate  predecessors ;  but  they  came  in 
myriads,  and  in  numberless  distinct  families,  genera,  and 
species;  and  as  they  came,  so  they  remain!  While  the 
Cycloids  and  Ctenoids  are  both  distinguished  from  the 
ancient  fishes  by  their  osseous  or  bony  structure,  as  well 
as  some  other  prominent  features,  ichthyologists  have 
devised  various  schemes  of  classification  to  separate  them 
from  each  other,  the  most  popular  of  which,  based  on  the 
number  and  character  of  their  fins,  also  constitutes  a  fea- 
ture in  the  system  of  Agassiz.  It  is  hardly  worth  while 
here,  or  proper,  in  view  of  the  space  it  would  require,  to 
enter  upon  a  description  of  their  genera  and  species,  since 
nine-tenths  of  all  the  fish  now  living  belong  to  these  two 


FISHES   OF    THE   TERTIARY.  301 

great  orders — tlie  other  one-tenth  being  feebly  represented 
by  those  which  are  typical  of  the  preceding  eras.  Both 
of  them  comprise  a  great  many  families  —  the  Cycloid 
being  well  represented  by  those  of  the  Pike,  the  Carp,  and 
the  Salmon,  while  the  Ctenoids  are  equally  represented 
by  the  Perch,  the  Mackerel,  the  Mullet,  and  the  Gudgeon. 
As  far  as  specific  character  is  concerned,  there  is  no  fish 
now  living  that  really  presents  a  true  counterpart  of  any 
that  distinguished  the  ocean  previous  to  the  Cretaceous 
formation.  The  change  then  introduced  was  so  thorough 
and  so  sudden,  that  the  whole  ichthyologic  field  was  re- 
organized on  a  new  basis,  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the 
approaching  era  of  man.  This  was  not  the  work  of  a 
slow,  precarious  and  gradual  development;  but  it  was 
instantaneous  and  direct.  It  was  not  the  effect  of  an  em- 
pirical law ;  but  the  work  of  the  great  Creator,  flowing 
spontaneously  from  the  exercise  of  his  almighty  Yolition. 
Bearing  this  great  fact  in  mind,  and  remembering  also,  in 
connection  with  it,  ttie  true  osseous  skeleton  of  the  orders 
thus  created,  with  which  the  merest  urchin  of  the  hook 
and  line  is  familiar,  where  is  the  force  of  Miller's  theory 
of  gradual  degradation,  on  the  one  hand,  or  of  the  La- 
markian  (or  Aristotelian)  theory  of  gradual  development 
on  the  other  ?  If  the  ancient  fishes  combined  in  their 
form  and  organization  some  of  the  features  of  birds,  rep- 
tiles, and  turtles,  it  only  proves,  if  it  proves  any  thing  at 
all,  that  they  were  not  true  fishes.  Because  they  inhab- 
ited the  seas,  it  does  not  follow  that  we  must  regard  them 
as  true  fishes.  Ducks  and  geese  frequent  the  water,  and 
whales  and  dolphins  live  in  it ;—  yet  they  are  not  fish. 
Fishes  were  made  for  man  ;  and  God  did  not  create  them 
until  the  dawning  of  his  era.  Moses,  indeed,  in  his  retro- 
spective vision  of  the  fifth  day,  says  nothing  whatever  of 
fish.  He  speaks  of  the  waters  "bringing  forth  moving 
creatures  and  great  whales,"  and  these,  we  repeat  cannot 


30%  THE   SIXTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

be  understood  as  implying  true  fish.  Moses  and  all  his 
people  were  as  familiar  with  the  existing  type  of  fish  as 
we  are  at  this  moment ;  and  the  word  fish  is  used  again 
and  again  in  the  Bible.  That  he,  therefore,  did  not 
contemplate  true  fish,  properly  so  understood,  in  the  phe- 
nomena of  the  great  Secondary  Geological  Day,  is  very 
plain,  for  the  simple  reason  that  he  did  not  name  them ; 
while,  that  he  did  contemplate  them  in  the  Sixth  Day,  is 
equally  plain,  for  the  reason  that  he  does  name  them/ 
Now,  all  this  is  significant.  The  "  moving  creatures"  of 
the  Fifth  Day  could  not  properly  be  called  fish,  nor  rep- 
tile, nor  turtle,  nor  bird,  nor  be^ast.  Even  comparative 
anatomists,  and  scientific  men  of  all  departments  of  zool- 
ogy and  physiology,  generally  exceedingly  prolific  in  no- 
menclature, have  been  ,much  perplexed  in  adopting  names 
by  which  to  distinguish  the  peculiar  and  varied  creatures 
which  characterized  that  vast  formation.  And  after  all, 
the  term  applied  by  Moses  is  perhaps  more  expressive 
than  those  of  professional  naturalists.  "  Moving  crea- 
tures" contemplates  a  variety — a  heterogeneous  assem- 
blage, otherwise  unclassified,  rather  than  a  distinct  class 
or  order ;  and  hence  the  propriety  and  significance  of  the 
term.  Had  Moses  used  the  word  swimming  creatures, 
or  crawling,  or  flying  creatures — or  had  he  used  the  word 
fishes  direct — the  impolicy  of  the  expression  would  here 
be  palpably  manifest — for  a  whole  army  of  scientific 
sticklers,  sitting  in  their  high  places  like  eagle-eyed  vul- 
tures on  frowning  precipices,  would  long  since  have 
pounced  upon  the  unfortunate  word,  and  voraciously  as- 
sailed the  integrity  of  his  inspiration  and  his  facts.  While 
its  non-introduction,  under  the  peculiar  circumstances,  is 
extremely  fortunate,  its  omission  can  neither  be  ascribed 
to  accident  nor  ignorance.  It  was  design — deliberate  and 
premeditated.  For  after  the  creation  of  the  true  and  ex- 
isting orders  offish,  on  the  dawn  of  the  Sixth  Day  he  ex- 


FISHES   OF   THE   TERTIARY.  303 

pressly  refers  to  them  as  constituting  a  portion  of  the  vast 
domain  of  man.  The  term  "moving  creature,"  as  applied 
to  aquatic  fauna,  is  no  longer  used  ; — but  "the  fish  of  the 
sea"  are  now  distinctly  and  unequivocally  referred  to, 
well  knowing,  as  he  did,  that  the  previous  species  had 
been  extinguished,  and  that  under  no  circumstances  could 
they  have  contributed  to  the  sustenance  or  the  varied  re- 
quirements of  the  human  family.  The  theories,  therefore, 
of  progressive  development  and  of  retrogression  and 
degradation,  are  alike  absurd  and  visionary  ;  and  they  are 
only  the  more  palpably  so,  for  having  been  elaborated 
with  consummate  skill  and  a  great  display  of  pseudo- 
learning. 

We  have  previously  alluded  to  the  supposed  absence  of 
the  fossil  remains  of  whales  and  dolphins  in  the  rocks  of 
the  Secondary  Formation.  Isolated  and  detached  bones 
have  indeed  been  found,  which  have  been  referred  to  these 
animals,  and  their  existence,  during  that  period,  is  not 
doubted  by  geologists  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  astonishment 
is  expressed  at  the  absence  of  their  fossil  remains.  I 
suggested  that  this  might  be  explained  on  the  basis  of 
their  enormous  dimensions,  requiring  them  to  select  the 
deepest  channels  of  the  primitive  oceans,  or  at  least  for- 
bidding their  sojourn  in  the  shallow  estuaries  which  were 
then  being  converted  into  dry  land.  The  Greenland  whale 
is  an  animal  from  sixty  to  eighty  feet  in  length.  Less 
than  a  century  ago,  when  the  fishing  grounds  in  the  re- 
gions of  the  North  and  South  poles  were  first  frequented, 
some  were  found  over  one  hundred  feet  in  length,  and 
comprising  a  bulk  greater  than  that  of  one  hundred  ele- 
phants. The  ordinary  whale,  as  it  is  now  captured,  is 
still,  by  far,  the  largest  animal  that  ever  inhabited  the 
earth ;  and  we  have  the  very  best  evidence  to  infer  that, 
before  the  species  were  prematurely  cut  off  by  whalers, 
they  attained  a  size  commensurate  with  their  age,  and  far 
20 


304  THE   SIXTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

greater  than  any  now  living  in  our  modern  seas.  We 
have  a  right  to  infer  this,  not  only  from  our  practical  ex- 
perience, but  from  the  language  of  Moses.  He  does  not 
speak  simply  of  whales,  but  of  great  whales — such  as  were 
found  inhabiting  the  Polar  Seas  when  whale-fishing  was 
in  its  infancy.  The  order  of  Cetacean  Mammals,  to  which 
they  belong,  comprises  several  other  species,  besides  Dol- 
phins and  Porpoises — all  of  which  are  much  smaller,  and 
generally  more  local  in  their  habitats,  than  the  great 
Arctic  whales.  The  term  great  whales,  therefore,  has  a 
meaning,  as  every  word  which  the  good  old  prophet  ut- 
tered has  a  distinct  application.  If  he  meant  to  include 
the  whole  order  of  whales,  large  and  small,  the  use  of  the 
word  "  great"  would  have  been  improper ;  or  if  he  meant 
to  distinguish  even  the  ordinary  arctic  or  antarctic  whale, 
such  a  word  would  have  been  out  of  place.  But  there  is 
a  literal  and  distinct  meaning  involved  in  it ;  and  we  are 
to  understand  from  it,  what  our  own  experience  has 
taught  us,  that  the  ancient  whales  were  far  more  enor- 
mous than  any  which  exist  in  modern  times ;  that  they 
were  necessarily  inhabitants  of  the  deep  sea,  and  that  in 
consequence  of  their  extraordinary  bulk,  their  carcasses 
could  not  be  associated  in  the  same  shallow  basins  and 
estuaries  with  the  remains  of  smaller  animals  and  testa- 
ceans:  and  that,  consequently,  we  must  look  for  their 
fossil  remains  in  the  bottoms  of  those  deeper  and  more 
remote  seas,  some  of  which  may  have  become  dry  land 
only  during  the  Tertiary  period.  Isolated  bones  of  these 
monsters  of  the  deep  have  been  found,  as  I  before  stated, 
in  the  formation  during  which  they  were  created ;  but  for 
the  reasons  here  suggested,  their  more  complete  skeletons 
or  osseous  remains  occur  in  by  far  the  greatest  abun- 
dance in  the  Tertiary  measures  which  immediately  suc- 
ceeded. 

From  the  known  fact  that  the  Jews  were  unacquainted 


ANIMALS   OF   THE   TERTIARY.  305 

even  with  the  northern  or  southern  whales,  certain  Zoolo- 
gists have  suggested  that  Moses  must  have  referred  to 
some  other  animal  of  the  Sauroid  or  Ophidian  orders. 
This  is  a  Somewhat  anomalous  suggestion  to  emanate 
from  a  gentleman,  (W.  J.  Bicknell,  of  England),  who 
subscribes  himself  author  of  a  "  Scripture  Natural  His- 
tory," and  as  a  "Licentiate  of  Theology."  If  the  term 
"  moving  creature"  did  not  sufficiently  comprehend  the 
whole  division  of  Chelonia,  Sauria,  Ophidia,  Batrachia  and 
Fishes,  we  might  venture  to  infer  a  misapplication  of  the 
words  "  great  whales" — especially  if  no  such  animals  had 
existed.  But  so  long  as  the  divine  authenticity  of  the 
Mosaic  narrative  is  maintained  on  the  basis  of  physical 
progress,  discovery,  and  law,  we  see  no  sufficient  reason 
for  interposing  needless  apologies.  When  the  inspired 
Cosmogonist  shall  have  been  convicted  of  lying  and  de- 
ception, it  will  be  time  enough  for  his  friends  to  volunteer 
explanations  for  mitigation  of  sentence  ;  but  in  the  mean 
time,  the  Bible  can  afford  to  stand  as  it  is,  and  dispense 
with  all  such  well-meant  but  rather  equivocal  apologies 
and  explanations. 

If  the  Paleozoic  Formation  was  remarkable  for  its  vege- 
tation beyond  all  other  features,  and  the  great  Secondary  for 
its  wonderful  and  prolific  marine  fauna,  then  the  Tertiary  is 
even  more  extraordinary  than  either  in  the  development  of 
the  higher  classes  of  land  animals.  This  far  exceeds  in 
extent,  variety,  and  perfection, any  thing  which  we  have  yet 
met  with  in  the  stratification  of  the  earth,  and  forms  the 
crowning  glory  of  the  magnificent  and  stupendous  whole. 
And  yet,  while  we  have  seen  the  footprints  of  supposed 
Cheirotheria,  as  far  back  as  the  New  Red  Sandstone,  (if 
not,  indeed,  in  the  Coal  measures,  and  the  Old  Eed  Sand- 
stone?) and  the  scattered  teeth  and  jaw-bones  of  the 
Thylacotherium,  and  other  supposed  Marsupial  mam- 
mals, in  the  Oolite, — not  to  mention  the  fossil  remains 


30G  THE    SIXTH    DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

of  other  land  animals  higher  in  the  scale  of  physical  organi- 
zation— is  it  not  at  least  curious,  (and  in  connection  with 
progressive  development,)  is  it  not  extraordinary  and 
incredible  that,  during  the  Cretaceous  era,  none  of  these, 
nor  hardly  a  trace  of  any  terrestrial  species  of  mammalia 
whatever  manifested  themselves  !  If  true  terrestrial  mam- 
mals occurred  at  all,  during  any  portion  of  the  great 
Secondary  Formation,  it  was  in  few,  doubtful,  and  isolated 
species ;  while  in  the  Cretaceous  sub-era,  which  termi- 
nated the  Fifth  Geological  Day,  no  traces  of  any  kind  have 
been  found  !  But  on  the  opening  of  the  very  next  day, 
when  Moses  lifts  the  vail  of  the  Tertiary,  after  the  good 
Creator  had  commanded  "the  earth  to  bring  forth  the 
living  creature,  cattle,  and  creeping  thing,  and  beast  of 
the  earth,"  what  is  the  scene  that  expands  before  the 
view  ?  It  is  one,  the  living  magnitude  of  which  bewilders 
the  senses,  and  impoverishes  the  most  versatile  resources 
of  pen  and  pencil  to  describe.  All  at  once,  as  if  the 
Creator  had  exerted  his  miraculous  power  to  their  highest 
tension,  the  whole  surface  of  the  earth  is  covered  with 
strange,  wonderfully-made,  many  of  them  gigantic,  "  living 
creatures  1"  Myriads  and  myriads  of  cattle — vast  herds 
of  roving  monsters — birds  of  varied  plumage — beasts  of 
every  conceivable  form,  proportion,  instinct,  habit,  and 
species,  crowd  the  teeming  vales  and  the  sloping  hills, 
wallow  along  the  shallow  lakes,  bask  in  the  vernant  sun, 
or  browse  leisurely  amid  the  green  forests  !  The  past 
history  of  the  earth,  remarkable  and  prolific  as  portions 
of  it  had  been,  affords  no  parallel  to  this.  Nor  was 
the  ocean  by  any  means  deficient  in  life.  If  possible 
it  was  more  populous  than  ever  before ;  but,  like  the 
earth  itself,  with  new  and  strange  creatures.  Where  now, 
let  me  ask  again,  is  the  theory  of  development  ?  And 
what  becomes  of  the  still  weaker  theory  of  degradation  ? 
Moses  himself  unmistakably  indicates  a  development  of 


LAND   ANIMALS   OF   THE   TERTIARY.  307 

formations.  He  carries  us  by  stages  from  a  lower  to  a 
higher  order  of  Creation  ;  but  not  by  a  law  of  gradual 
operation.  It  is  the  development  of  successive  creative 
acts,  and  nothing  short  of  the  most  immediate,  direct,  antf 
miraculous  creative  action  can  account  for  the  sudden  in- 
troduction of  the  terrestrial  fauna  of  the  Tertiary  upon 
the  surface  of  the  earth.  The  whole  animated  Creation 
was  changed — changed,  as  it  were,  instantaneously,  as 
one  act  of  the  drama  succeeds  another. 

"  The  first/t-e  acts  already  passed, 
A  sixth  will  close  the  drama  with  the  day — 
Time's  noblest  offering  is  the  last !" 

The  great  class  of  Mammalia,  for  which-  the  latter  part 
of  the  Tertiary  or  Sixth  day  was  pre-eminently  distin- 
guished, includes  not  only  the  higher  quadrupedal  animals 
that  sustain  their  offspring  during  infancy  by  the  secre- 
tions of  milk  in  the.  mammae,  but  also  comprises  the 
human  species.  The  class  forms  two  divisions  :  the  first 
known  as  the  Diadelphian,  and  the  second  as  the  Mona- 
delphian.  The  Diadelphian  division  is  small,  and  in- 
cludes but  a  few  living  families,  all  of  which  are  natives 
of  America  and  Australia.  They  are  distinguished  for 
being  furnished  with  pouches,  by  means  of  which  they 
sustain  their  young  for  a  time,  after  bringing  them  forth 
in  an  immature  condition.  In  some  of  the  species,  how- 
ever, as  the  Mexican  Opossum,  the  pouches  are  not  deve- 
loped ;  and  the  young  opossums  seek  protection  of  the 
mother  by  winding  their  long  prehensile  tails  around  hers, 
and  grasping  the  fur  of  her  back  in  their  mouths.  In 
this  way,  she  can  avoid  her  enemies  with  half  a  dozen  of 
her  progeny  on  her  back.  The  Australian  Kangaroo  is 
the  most  perfect  Marsupial  or  pouched  animal  now  living. 
After  the  birth  of  her  young,  which  she  brings  forth 
gingly,  and  after  a  gestation  of  only  thirty-nine  days,  the 


308  THE   SIXTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

mother  places  it  in  her  pouch,  which  is  situated  in  the 
folds  of  tne  skin  below  the  abdomen.  Here  it  receives 
the  lacteal  nourishment  to  sustain  it  until  able  to  shift  for 
itself,  which  it  will  undertake  to  do  after  a  pouch-life  of 
nine  or  ten  months.  It  will  leave  the  pouch  occasionally, 
at  intervals,  during  this  period,  but  return  to  it  on  the 
least  indication  of  danger,  where  it  may  often  be  seen 
peeping  out,  as  if  considering  how  far  it  might  be  com- 
patible with  prudence  to  venture  forth.  The  Kangaroo 
readily  becomes  domesticated,  and  they  formerly  occurred 
in  large  numbers  in  certain  portions  of  Australia.  The 
animal  is  also  remarkable  for  having  its  kind  limbs  twice 
as  large  and  long  as  those  in  front,  for  which  reason  its 
gait  consists  of  successive  leaps,  instead  of  a  walk.  The 
American  Opossum,  so  far  as  its  pouch  is  concerned,  is 
similar  to  the  Kangaroo,  but  much  smaller.  Most  per- 
sons who  read  these  pages'  are  doubtless  familiar  with  this 
animal,  as  it  inhabits  nearly  all  the  Middle  States.  In 
Australia  there  are  three  or  four  species  of  opossum  be- 
longing to  the  Marsupial  order — including,  also,  squirrels 
and  rats.  It  is  supposed  that  the  extinct  Thylocothe- 
rium,  Phascolotherium,  and  some  other  obscure  frag- 
mentary remains  previously  alluded  to,  belonged  to  this 
order. 

The  Monadelphian  division  comprehends  the  great  bulk 
of  the  higher  animal  species,  including  man.  It  is  dis- 
tinguished from  the  Diadelphian,  among  numerous  other 
striking  features,  by  the  full  organic  structure  of  its 
species  at  the  time  of  their  birth,  requiring  only,  for  a 
time,  the  subsequent  care  and  nourishment  of  the  mother. 
It  comprehends  no  less  than  ten  different  orders,  based 
principally  on  their  organs  of  touch,  of  mastication,  and 
locomotion.  These  orders  are  themselves  so  numerous, 
that  they  are  subdivided  into  many  families  and  groups. 
Of  the  first  order,  we  have  the  Cetacea,  comprising  three 


ANIMALS   OF   THE    TERTIARY.  309 

families,  and  including  the  different  varieties  of  whales, 
dolphins,  and  porpoises.  The  remains  of  living  and  ex- 
tinct genera  of  this  order  are  plentifully  diffused  in  the 
Tertiary,  but  mainly  in  the  more  recent  strata.  Among 
these  are  the  remains  of  a  gigantic  animal,  supposed  by 
some  to  have  been  a  cetacean,  by  ethers  a  pachyderm, 
called  the  Dinotherium.  It  is  supposed  to  have  had  a 
proboscis,  like  the  elephant,  with  two  enormous  teeth 
attached  to  the  lower  jaw,  but  curving  downward.  In 
other  respects,  it  was  fashioned  somewhat  like  an  ele- 
phant ;  but  is  presumed  to  have  been  more  aquatic  than 
terrestrial  in  its  instincts.  Some  writers,  speculating 
upon  its  habits,  have  described  it  as  swimming  along  the 
shores  of  lakes,  and  attaching  itself  by  means  of  its  curved 
tusks  to  trees,  in  which  position  it  would  employ  its  long 
trunk  to  feed  upon  the  tender  shoots  and  foliage.  Its 
skull  has  been  found  in  two  or  three  instances,  usually  in 
the  Miocene  strata  of  the  Tertiary.  Another  Cetacean, 
styled  the  Zeugloden,  but  formerly  regarded  as  a  reptile, 
has  been  found  in  the  Eocene  of  Alabama. 

The  order  of  Ewninantia  may  be  recognized  by  the 
structure  of  their  feet,  which  terminate  in  two  toes,  in- 
closed by  a  bony  hoof.  The  name,  however,  is  bestowed 
in  consequence  of  the  fact  that  all  the  species  belonging  to 
the  order  chew  the  cud,  and  have  a  singular  organization 
of  the  stomach.  Some  zoologists  assign  but  three  fami- 
lies to  it — those  of  camels,  stags,  and  oxen.  Others  in- 
clude sheep  and  goats,  the  true  position  of  which  seems 
to  be  somewhat  obscure  and  doubtful.  Including  them 
with  this  order,  it  not  only  becomes  the  most  numerous 
as  to  individual  numbers,  but  is  by  far  the  most  useful 
and  important  in  domestic  economy  of  any  other  in  the 
entire  range  of  the  animal  kingdom.  The  two-hunched 
Camel,  which  has  been  styled  the  ship  of  the  desert,  and 
the  swift-pacing  Dromedary  of  the  Orient,  are  both  inti- 


310  THE   SIXTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

mately  associated  with  the  earliest  history,  and  the  pro- 
gressive struggles  and  labors  of  man.  To  the  Arab  they 
are  alike  invaluable  and  indispensable- — furnishing  him 
with  food  and  milk,  while  their  hair  is  woven  into  tents 
and  wearing  apparel,  their  hides  converted  into  leather, 
and  their  dung  into  fuel.  Strong  hopes  are  indulged  that 
recent  efforts  of  our  Government  to  acclimate  and  render 
available  the  services  of  the  caravan-camel  in  the  south- 
western plains  of  the  United  States,  will  prove  eminently 
successful.  Three  or  four  years  have  now  elapsed  since 
their  introduction,  and  though  some  of  the  animals  have 
died,  they  have  thus  far  generally  exceeded  the  expecta- 
tions formed  of  them.  The  Dromedary  differs  from  the 
Camel  in  having  but  one  hunch  on  its  back ;  and  in  being 
a  much  swifter  traveler.  It  is  said  to  be  able  to  travel 
with  ease  one  hundred  miles  per  day.  Besides  possessing 
four  compartments  of  the  stomach,  from  one  of  which, 
(forming  a  sort  of  temporary  repository,  which  is  peculiar 
to  all  Ruminantia,)  the  food  is  returned  in  the  cud,  to  be 
again  chewed  before  undergoing  the  usual  process  of 
digestion,  the  Camel  is  also  furnished  with  a  tank,  by 
means  of  which  it  carries  supplies  of  water  for  its  own 
private  use.  It  is  thus  able  to  resist  the  pangs  of  thirst 
to  an  extraordinary  extent,  and  to  traverse  regions  of  arid 
plains  where  ordinary  animals  would  perish  in  a  day. 
The  wise  provision  of  Providence  is  thus  exemplified  in  a 
most  remarkable  manner — adapting  his  creatures  in  every 
instance,  as  it  would  seem,  to  the  peculiar  circumstances 
which  surround  them.  Extinct  genera  of  the  Camelidos 
are  rare.  Fossil  remains  of  them  have  been  found  in  the 
glaciers  of  Siberia,  while  specimens  of  existing  genera 
occur  abundantly  in  the  Eocene  strata  of  France,  Asia, 
and  America.  The  Cervidce,  or  Stag  family,  is  very  nu- 
merous, and,  as  indicated  by  the  name,  comprehends  all 
known  varieties  of  the  deer — as  the  Moose  or  Elk,  the 


THE  DEER,  THE  OX,  THE  SHEEP.        311 

Reindeer,  the  Stag  or  Red  Deer,  the  Axis  Deer,  the  Fal- 
low Deer,  the  Chevrotain,  the  Roebuck,  the  Antelope, 
and  the  Nyl-ghau  and  Cameleopard,  or  Giraffe.  Few  of 
these  animals  have  been  domesticated,  and  they  are 
chiefly  valuable  for  their  flesh  and  the  amusement  they 
afford  tha  hunter.  The  Laplander,  however,  turns  the 
Reindeer  to  practical  account — not  only  employing  it  in 
sledging  over  the  snow  and  ice,  but  mainly  subsisting  on 
its  flesh,  and  deriving  clothing  from  its  skins.  With  the 
exception  of  the  Cameleopard  and  the  Chevrotain,  which 
are  natives  of  Southern  Africa,  and  the  Axis  deer  of  India, 
all  the  rest  are  found  in  different  latitudes  in  America — 
most  of  them,  ideed,  as  the  Elk,  the  Stag,  the  Fallow 
Deer,  the  Roebuck,  and  species  of  the  Antelope,  being 
peculiar  to  the  United  States.  There  is  a  strong  family 
resemblance  in  all  these  animals — three  of  which  are 
spotted,  as  the  Giraffe,  the  Axis,  and  the  Fallow.  The 
Giraffe  is  remarkable  for  its  height,  long  neck,  and  slender 
build ;  but  notwithstanding  its  seeming  awkwardness,  it 
is  said  to  be  a  swift  runner,  and  has  to  rely  on  this  faculty 
as  a  means  of  defense  or  escape  from  its  enemies.  Its 
bones  have  been  found  in  the  sub-apennine  Tertiary  of 
France  ;  while  all  the  later  Tertiary  strata,  and  especially 
all  caverns,  in  Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  and  America,  abso- 
lutely teem  with  the  dissevered  skeletons  of  nearly  every 
member  of  the  order  now  living.  They  formed  then,  as 
they  do  now,  a  common  prey  to  predaceous  animals; 
hence  the  abundance  .of  their  gnawed  bones  in  nearly  all 
caverns  and  strata  of  recent  formation.  Extinct  genera 
are  rare,  though  not  wanting.  Of  these,  the  Sivotherium 
is  supposed  to  have  been  intermediate  between  ruminants 
and  pachyderms.  The  head  contained  horns,  and,  some 
persons  conjecture,  a  proboscis  also,  like  that  of  the  ele- 
phant. Remains  of  it  have  been  found  in  the  later  Mio- 
cene of  the  Himalaya  mountains  in  India.  The  Capra 


312  THE    SIXTH    DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

comprise  the  common  domestic  goat,  the  Ibex  and  the 
Chamois  of  the  Swiss  Alps  and  the  mountainous  regions 
of  Savoy,  Piedmont,  and  Germany,  and  the  goats  of  An- 
gora and  of  Syria.  The  goat  is  found  in  nearly  all  climates, 
hot  and  cold ;  is  remarkably  sure-footed  in  traversing 
mountain  steeps  and  precipices ;  generally  yields  nutri- 
cious  and  wholesome  milk  when  herded  and  domesticated, 
and  its  skin  is  valuable  for  various  purposes  in  manufac- 
tures and  domestic  economy.  The  sheep  (ovis  aries) 
comprise  various  species,  but  have  been  materially  changed 
by  domestication.  Contrary,  however,  to  all  develop- 
ment hypotheses,  they  still  continue  to  be  sheep — having 
no  more  bones  in  their  skeleton  now  than  had  the  flocks 
of  Abraham  and  Isaac.  Great  Britain  is  the  principal 
field  of  sheep  husbandry  in  the  world ;  but  certain  States 
of  our  Union  have  lately  been  making  very  rapid  advances, 
especially  Texas.  The  western  part  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
the  adjacent  districts  of  Ohio  and  Virginia,  have  long 
been  known  for  their  extensive  production  of  sheep,  with 
special  reference  to  the  quality  of  the  fleece.  In  England 
more  attention  has  been  given  to  the,  quality  of  the  flesh 
than  the  wool ;  hence  John  Bull  is  as  famous  for  his  mut- 
ton chops  as  for  his  roast  beef.  Speaking  of  roast  beef, 
reminds  us  of  the  Bovidoe,  or  Ox  family.  Little,  however, 
need  be  said  of  them.  The  word  oxen  originally  implied 
black  cattle,  of  both  sexes,  and  in  this  sense  may  be  ap- 
plied to  all  the  members  of  this  extensive  and  valuable 
family.  It  comprises  the  domestic  ox  of  Europe  and 
America,  the  ox  of  Syria,  the  American  Bison,  the  Buf- 
falo, the  Indian  Zebu,  and  the  Musk  ox  of  Hudson's  Bay. 
The  domestic  ox  formed  a  leading  element  of  individual 
and  national  wealth  in  the  most  remote  ages  of  antiquity 
— among  the  Jews  their  skins  sometimes  formed  a  medium 
of  exchange,  in  the  absence  of  money.  The  wealth  of  the 
old  patriarchs  consisted  altogether  of  cattle,  even  lands 


ANIMALS   OF   THE   TERTIARY.  313 

being  held  as  of  secondary  value.  Emasculation  was  for- 
bidden by  the  Mosaic  law,  in  view  of  the  valuable  ser- 
vices of  the  ox  as  a  beast  of  burden,  and  in  the  general 
agricultural  system  of  those  primitive  days.  The  property 
possessed  by  cows  of  affording  milk  long  after  their  young 
are  withdrawn,  is  a  feature  in  physiology  which  is  said  to 
pertain  to  no  other  animals.  And  in  view  of  their  uni- 
versal adoption  into  the  domestic  economy  of  man,  it  sug- 
gests the  inference  of  their  creation  expressly  for  his 
benefit.  The  domestic  oxen  have  been  much  improved 
by  cross-breeding,  but  whether  their  condition,  as  a  whole, 
has  been  strengthened  or  elevated,  is  a  question  which 
admits  of  doubt.  At  any  rate,  it  need  not  be  considered 
here.  The  Syrian  ox  differs  from  lhat  known  to  us  by 
presenting  a  considerable  rise  or  protuberance  over  the 
fore-shoulders.  The  Zebu  of  the  East  Indies  is  an  animal 
not  materially  different  from  the  other  species.  They  are 
natives  of  Asia,  but  are  also  found  scattered  throughout 
Africa.  The  Musk  ox  has  a  large  and  powerful  body 
supported  on  short  legs,  and  is  usually  found  in  herds  of 
thirty  or  forty  in  the  cold  regions  of  North  America. 
The  Buffalo,  although  a  native  of  Africa,  is  very  numer- 
ous in  America,  and,  like  the  Bison,  forms  immense  herds 
on  our  western  prairies.  It  is  estimated  that  fifty  thou- 
sand of  these  animals  have  been  met  with  in  single  herds 
in  those  vast  regions  stretching  out  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. Their  skins  are  valuable,  as  every  one  who  has 
wrapped  himself  up  in  the  folds  of  a  buffalo-robe,  during 
the  blasts  of  a  pitiless  Nor'easter,  can  gratefully  attest. 
Specimens  of  the  remains  of  the  extinct  genus  Leptithe- 
rium  have  been  found  in  the  caverns  and  the  upper  Ter- 
tiary deposits  of  Brazil ;  while  those  allied  to  living 
specimens  are  quite  abundant  all  over  Asia,  Africa,  Eu- 
rope, and  America.  Indeed,  during  the  latter  stages  of 
the  Ternary,  these  animals  were  almost,  if  not  quite,  as 


31-i  THE    SIXTH    DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

numerous  as  they  are  now ;   and  roved  over  the  country 
in  immense  herds,  like  the  Buffalo  of  the  West. 

The  order  of  Pachydermata  is  so  naniecf  because  all  its 
species  are  distinguished  from  other  animals  by  the  thick- 
ness of  their  skins  or  hides.  During  the  Tertiary  period, 
it  was  the  most  wonderful  class  of  animals,  in  every  re- 
spect, which  ever  appeared  on  the  earth.  Although  much 
of  its  ancient  character  is  lost,  it  still  furnishes  some  of 
the  largest  and  most  powerful  animals  now  living,  as  also 
some  of  the  noblest  and  most  esteemed.  It  presents  but 
three  families,  comprehending  the  horse,  the  rhinoceros, 
and  the  elephant.  The  horse  not  only  includes  every 
known  variety  of  that  animal,  of  which  there  are  many, 
remarkable  either  for  their  size,  their  strength,  speed, 
docility,  or  other  qualities  ;  but  also  includes  the  ass,  wild 
and  domestic,  the  mule,  and  the  African  Zebra.  The 
degree  of  intelligence  which  this  animal  has  attained 
during  his  familiar  intercourse  with  man,  is  no  less 
astonishing  than  gratifying.  When  we  see  the  thousands 
of  wild  horses  of  the  plains,  and  reflect  that  the  noble 
animal  we  bestride  has  been  reclaimed  from  such  a  condi- 
tion, and  elevated  to  a  degree  of  intelligence  under  which 
his  services  are  invaluable,  it  shows  the  subtle  power  and 
majesty  of  mind,  and  .evinces  the  perfection  of  that  do- 
minion over  the  beasts  of  the  earth,  with  which  man  was 
endowed  by  his  Creator.  And  the  only  progressive  de- 
velopment which  we  could  ever  discover  in  nature,  is  that 
wrought  upon  the  inferior  animals  by  the  influence  of 
man  ;  and  for  this  he  has  the  full  sanction  and  express 
authority  of  the  common  parent  of  all.  And  yet,  in  the 
face  of  such  influence — in  the  face  of  all  efforts,  whether 
dictated  by  sordid  gain,  or  that  vaulting  ambition  which 
impels  some  men  to  usurp  not  only  temporal  and  civil, 
but  the  highest  laws  of  nature  and  morality,  man  has  been 
unable  to  produce  a  genuine  race  of  mongrels,  having  the 


THE   HORSE,    THE   HIPPOPOTAMUS,   THE   ELEPHANT.      315 

inherent  powers  of  reproduction.  It  is  true  the  mule 
may  be  regarded  as  a  sort  of  hybrid  between  the  horse 
and  the  ass,  but  both  parents  are  alike  members  of  the 
Equus  family — they  are  themselves  horses.  Yet  even  the 
mule  is  obtained  in  violation  of  all  the  instincts  of  the 
mother ;  and  nature  has  affixed  the  stamp  of  barrenness 
upon  the  offspring,  as  if  to  condemn  and  to  arrest  further 
innovations  upon  creative  order.  Nature,  however,  seems 
to  have  sanctioned  the  production  of  this  animal  for  a 
special  purpose,  since  it  is  endowed  with  qualities 
possessed  by  neither  of  its  progenitors.  Such  is  its 
sure-footedness  that  it  can  ascend  and  descend  mountain 
passes  and  declivities,  where  unaided  man  himself  would 
hesitate  to  venture.  In  the  Andes  and  the  Alps,  the 
mule  does  not  descend  by  steps,  but  drawing  its  feet  close  < 
together,  and  falling  back  on  its  haunches,  it  slides  down 
the  steepest  mountain  slopes,  bearing  her  rider  or  freight 
in  safety  to  the  base.  No  other  animal  could  do  this,  or 
could  ever  be  induced  to  try  it ;  for  it  requires  not  only 
extraordinary  agility  and  suppleness  of  the  limbs,  but  a 
cool  daring  of  instinct,  which  seems  to  be  an  innate 
peculiarity  of  the  mule.  But  while  mongrels,  prodigies, 
and  monsters  may  be  produced, — if  for  no  other  end  than 
to  warn  man  against  the  enormity  of  the  abuse, — nature, 
in  no  instance,  permits  their  perpetuation.  The  natural 
vitality  of  the  true  species  will  either  absorb  them,  or  their 
own  deformity  entails  the  inability  of  reproduction.  This 
fact,  which  is  alike  fatal  to  the  idea  of  development  or  of 
degradation,  will  account  for  some  of  those  apparent 
anomalies  in  the  ancient  zoology,  which  have  puzzled 
modern  anatomists.  Nature,  produced  monsters  then,  as 
she  does  now ;  but  they  were  always  confined  to  single 
individuals.  Fossil  remains  of  the  horse,  the  ass,  and  the 
zebra,  have  been  found  in  the  upper  Tertiary  veins,  in  all 
parts  of  the  world ;  but  I  believe  they  always  indicate  an 


316  THE   SIXTH    DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

identity  with  the  existing  species,  and  thus  poin+  to  the 
fact,  not  without  interest,  that,  notwithstanding  all  the 
local  changes  which  the  animal  has  undergone,  the  family, 
as  a  whole,  remains  precisely  where  nature  originally 
placed  it  in  the  scale  of  created  life. 

Belonging  to  the  pachyderms  proper,  there  is  a  large 
group  both  of  extinct  and  living  species.  Among  the  latter, 
— to  which  some  of  the  former  were  closely  related, — are 
the  hippopotamus,  the  wild  boar,  the  hog,  the  peccary,  the 
tapir,  and  the  rhinoceros.  The  hippotamus  is  one  of  the 
most  compact  and  powerful  animals  ever  created,  and  is 
well  described  by  Job,  who,  indeed,  appears  to  have  been 
a  naturalist  of  the  highest  ability.  "  He  moveth  his  tail 
like  a  cedar  ;  the  sinews  of  his  thighs  are  wrapped  together. 
His  bones  are  as  strong  pieces  of  brass  :  his  bones  are  like 
bars  of  iron.  He  is  the  chief  of  the  ways  of  God  ;  he  who 
made  him  hath  furnished  him  with  his  sword.  Surely  the 
mountains  bring  him  forth  food,  where  all  the  beasts  of 
the  field  play.  He  lieth  under  the  shady  trees,  in  the 
covert  of  the  reed,  and  fens.  The  shady  trees  cover  him 
with  their  shadow  ;  the  willows  of  the  brook  compass  him 
about.  Behold,  should  the  river  swell,  he  hasteneth  not ; 
he  is  fearless  should  even  the  Jordan  come  up  to  his 
mouth.  Who  can  take  him  openly,  or  draw  a  cord 
through  his  nose  ?"  The  hippopotamus,  as  indicated  by 
the  sacred  writer,  is  an  amphibious  animal,  but  not  car- 
nivorous. It  feeds  exclusively  on  herbage,  and  such  is 
the  enormous  capacity  of  its  stomach,  that  it  can  hold  six 
or  seven  bushels  of  half-chewed  vegetable  matter.  A 
hippopotamus  on  exhibition  in  the  Zoological  Gardens  of 
Regent's  Park,  London,  has  brought  forth  young  on  two 
or  three  occasions,  and  we  observe,  by  a  paragraph  in  the 
newspapers,  that  she  invariably  destroys  them  shortly 
after  birth.  Whether  this  is  generally  peculiar  to  the 
animal  in  its  unrestrained  condition  is  of  course  hardly 


THE   RHINOCEROS,    THE   TAPIR,  ETC.  317 

probable  ;  if  it  be,  then  nature  has  undoubtedly  made  some 
provision  for  the  escape  and  support  of  the  young,  or 
otherwise  the  species  would  long  since  have  been  extinct. 
Remains  of  this  animal  .have  been  found  in  the  Tertiary 
and  alluvium  of  Europe,  Asia,  and  North  America.  The 
rhinoceros,  in  its  general  appearance,  is  not  much  unlike 
the  hippopotamus.  The  former  is  distinguished  by  a 
sharp  horn  issuing  from  its  nose,  with  which  it  can  gore 
an  ft  lacerate  any  animal  bold  enough  to  attack  it,  and  by 
a  long  tail  terminating  in  a  switch.  The  other  animal  has 
quite  a  short  and  stumpy  tail,  and  no  nasal  tusk.  The 
hide  of  the  rhinoceros  is  so  hard  that  it  often  resists  a 
rifle-ball,  while  the  claws  of  the  tiger  and  the  lion  make 
but  little  impression  upon  it,  except  in  vulnerable  spots. 
It  is  said  to  be  fond  of  wallowing  in  muddy  pools  and  flats 
in  the  vicinity  of  large  rivers.  Its  present  habitat  is  the 
East  Indies,  especially  in  the  valley  of  the  Ganges. 
That  of  the  hippopotamus  is  principally  in  the  south  of 
Africa.  The  rhinoceros  is  believed  to  include  ten  or  more 
species,  of  which  at  least  four  have  been  identified  in  the 
upper  Tertiary  of  Europe.  The  tapir  of  South  America 
represents  a  genus  of  animals  which  appear  to  have  been 
numerous  at  some  places,  during  the  upper  Tertiary 
period.  It  presents  some  resemblance  to  the  hog,  the 
hippopotamus,  and  the  elephant — though  its  present  size 
hardly  exceeds  that  of  the  animal  first  named.  Its  skin  is 
remarkably  hard  and  tough,  and  has  but  a  thin  coating  of 
bristling  hair.  Its  tail  is  stumpy,  its  legs  short  and  thick, 
terminating  in  hoofed  toes,  and  its  upper  jaw  is  furnished 
with  a  fleshy  prolongation  or  incipient  proboscis,  similar 
to  that  of  the  elephant,  but  not  one-fourth  the  comparative 
length.  The  animal  is  amiable  in  its  habits,  and  is  easily 
domesticated.  Its  flesh  is  eaten  by  the  Indians  of  South 
America,  and  is  said  to  be  as  palatable  as  that  of  most 
otb'»r  herbivorous  animals.  The  genus  Laphiodon  of  the 


818  THE    SIXTH   DAY— GEOLOGICAL. 

Miocene,  of  which  twelve  species  have  been  found,  and 
the  Paleotherium  of  the  Eocene,  were  both  very  similar 
to  the  existing  tapir.  The  size  of  the  ancient  animals, 
however,  varied  considerably — some  having  been  scarcely 
larger  than  a  hare,  while  others  attained  the  ordinary 
proportions  of  a  horse.  Other  varieties  of  the  extinct 
tapir  combined  the  structural  peculiarities  of  the  horse, 
the  hog,  the  rhinoceros,  the  hippopotamus,  and  the 
camel. 

There  were  five  or  six  extinct  genera,  each  of  which 
was  distinguished  by  some  peculiarity  of  structure,  which 
it  is  not  necessary  here  to  describe.  The  wild  Boar, 
which  belongs  to  the  Pachyderm  order,  is  generally  con- 
sidered to  be  the  parent  of  the  domestic  swine.  From  the 
fact  that  his  upper  snout  is  furnished  with  tusks,  we 
think  this  proposition  rather  questionable.  The  domestic 
swine  are,  no  doubt,  derived  from  progenitors  originally 
wild  and  ferocious ;  but  they  were  very  probably  a  differ- 
ent genus  from  the  tusked  animal  now  existing.  The 
Mexican  peccary  is  very  similar  to  swine,  but  instead  of 
two,  one  of  its  species  (the  Babiroussa)  has  four  tusks ; 
and  yet  there  is  no  instance  of  a  hybrid  race  among  them. 
The  peccary  is  gregarious,  exceedingly  ferocious,  and 
lives  principally  on  roots  and  vegetables.  The  remains 
of  animals  allied  to  the  existing  genera  of  swine  have  been 
found,  but  somewhat  meagrely,  in  the  upper  strata  of  the 
Tertiary.  The  domestic  variety  is  recent,  and  was  no 
doubt  created  for  the  office  of  scavenger,  for  which  his 
habits  and  instincts  incomparably  qualify  him.  If,  indeed, 
he  is  not  remarkable  for  the  fastidiousness  of  his  appetite 
and  general  deportment,  it  may  be  said  to  his  palliation 
that  man,  with  a  great  deal  more  pretension,  is  'scarcely 
more  so ;  since  he  does  not  hesitate  tc  devour  the  very 
animals  whose  valuable  services  as  a  common  scavenger 


THE   PECCARY,    THE   HOG,    THE    ELEPHANT.  319 

t3  affects  to  despise  !     Tempus  edax  rerum,  and  so  does 
man  ! 

The  family  of  Elephants  forms  the  remaining  group  of 
the  order  of  Pachydermata.  The  living  species  are  found 
in  Africa  and  Asia,  but  the  size  of  those  of  the  latter  is 
considerably  greater  than  the  former.  They  seldom  ex- 
ceed ten  feet  in  height,  or  four  thousand  pounds  in  weight. 
They  are  regarded  as  an  unusually  intelligent  animal,  but 
it  is  doubtful  whether  they  are  capable  of  higher  mental 
culture  than  dogs  or  horses.  They  have  been  extensively 
employed  in  wars,  in  caravans,  and  in  the  pompous 
pageants  and  processions  of  the  East,  and  have  thus  had 
the  full  benefit  of  a  long  and  close  intercourse  with  man, 
by  which  means  the  intelligence  of  the  species  has  been 
developed.  The  proboscis  of  the  elephant  is  prehensile, 
and  is  made  up  of  no  less  than  forty  thousand  aggregated 
muscles,  curiously  interlaced.  It  possesses  amazing 
strength  and  flexibility,  and  with  the  enormous  ivory 
tusks,  forms  a  leading  feature  in  the  appearance  and  struc- 
ture of  the  animal.  During  the  Tertiary  period,  the 
family  of  Elephants  included  several  varieties  now  ex- 
tinct. Among  these  were  the  Mastodons,  of  which  there 
were  several  genera.  They  were  considerably  longer 
and  somewhat  higher  than  the  living  elephants,  and  ap- 
pear to  have  been  very  numerous  all  over  the  world. 
Their  b.ones  have  been  exhumed  in  great  abundance  in 
the  valleys  of  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi,  and  in  the 
States  of  New  Yv)rk  and  Virginia.  The  ivory  obtained 
from  the  tusks  of  extinct  elephants  has,  from  the  most  re- 
mote ages,  formed  no  inconsiderable  item  of  commerce 
and  manufactures.  Each  tusk  usually  attains  a  length  of 
eight  feet ;  and  the  supplies  of  the  world,  for  the  last  cen- 
tury, have  been  principally  derived  from  Russi^  where 
the  satiseptic  qualities  of  the  frigid  climate  have  no  doubt 
tenled  to  their  preservation.  Tusks  from  the  living 
21 


320  THE   SIXTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL 

species  still  constitute  a  principal  trade  among  the  na- 
tives of  Africa. 

The  Edentata  is  an  order  which  presents  a  transition 
from  those  previously  described,  in  the  form  of  the  hoof, 
which  is  in  them  superseded  by  claws  or  toes  armed  with 
nails  for  scratching  and  digging.  There  are  three  or  four 
families — two  of  which  are  represented  by  the  living  ant- 
eaters  and  the  armadillos  ;  the  others,  long  since  extinct, 
by  the  gigantic  Megatherium.  The  Sloths,  which  in- 
clude two  genera  not  materially  different,  were  for  a  long 
time  a  great  puzzle  to  zoologists,  who  could  not  reconcile 
the  structure  of  their  limbs  with  the  usual  ambulatory 
movements  of  such  animals.  It  was  finally  ascertained, 
however,  that  in  their  native  forests,  they  were  in  the 
habit  of  traveling  from  tree  to  tree  by  means  of  the  con- 
necting limbs,  and,  the  better  to  facilitate  their  move- 
ments, always  selected  windy  days,  when  the  branches 
would  be  brought  in  closer  connection  ;  but  unlike  squir- 
rels, they  traveled  with  their  bodies  suspended  under  the 
limbs,  and  their  feet  upward,  like  flies  adhering  to  a  ceil- 
ing. It  was  ascertained  that  they  also  slept  in  this  novel 
position,  and,  in  short,  reversed  the  usual  order  of  nature 
in  all  their  movements.  The  animal  called  the  Ant-eater 
is  generally  about  four  feet  long,  exclusive  of  tail,  and  is 
provided  with  a  bird-like  snout,  serving  as  a  sheath  for  a 
long  pointed  tongue,  which  it  thrusts  into  an  ant-hill,  and 
withdraws  coated  with  the  living  prey.  It  is  found  with 
the  Sloth  in  Africa,  but  its  chief  country  is  South  America. 
There  are  three  extinct  genera  of  this  family,  all  of  which 
are  found  in  the  pampas  and  caverns  of  South  America, 
with  the  remains  of  those  of  existing  genera.  The  second 
family  comprehends  the  manis  and  the  armadillos — all  of 
"which  are  inclosed  in  scaly  coats-of-mail.  The  manis  is 
also  an  ant-eater,  but  unlike  the  others  (which  are  clothed 
with  hair),  it  has  a  long  lizard-like  body,  pointed  snout, 


THE   SLOTH,  THE   MEGATHERIUM,    ETC.  321 

and  short  legs  with  long  pointed  claws.  Its  length  is 
usually  about  eight  feet,  of  which  the  tail  comprises  one- 
naif.  True  to  its  serpentine  instincts,  it  rolls  itself  up  on 
';lie  approach  of  danger,  and,  by  means  of  its  hard  osseous 
scales,  intimidates  the  boldest  denizens  of  the  wilderness. 
This  is  also  peculiar  to  the  armadillos,  whose  horny  cov- 
ering is  arranged  into  flexible  sections  for  that  purpose. 
They  are  all  burrowers,  feeding  upon  roots  and  vege- 
tables, and  fly  to  their  holes  on  the  apprehension  of  dan- 
ger. The  armadillos,  unlike  the  manis,  have  the  general 
form  of  swine,  though  in  one  variety  the  body  and  tail 
are  considerably  elongated.  The  extinct  genera  of  this 
family  were  very  numerous  during  the  Tertiary,  and  onfc 
of  them,  the  Glyptodon,  attained  extraordinary  dimen- 
sions, and  had  some  resemblance  to  the  Megatherium. 
This  animal  was  nearly  as  large  as  an  elephant,  and  its 
skull  was  similar  to  that  of  the  Sloth.  Its  mouth  pos- 
sessed gigantic  power,  and,  like  the  other  monsters  which 
distinguished  the  Tertiary,  was  well  adapted  for  crushing 
the  roots  upon  which  it  fed.  Its  feet  were  large  and 
armed  with  tremendous  claws,  and  the  "  entire  frame  was 
an  apparatus  of  colossal  mechanism,  adapted  exactly  to 
the  work  it  had  to  do  ;  strong  and  ponderous  in  propor- 
tion as  this  work  was  heavy,  and  calculated  to  be  the 
vehicle  of  life  and  enjoyment  to  a  gigantic  race  of  quadru- 
peds, which,  though  they  have  ceased  to  be  counted 
among  the  living  inhabitants  of  our  planet,  have,  in  their 
fossil  bones,  left  behind  them  imperishable  monuments  of 
the  consummate  skill  with  which  they  were  constructed. 
Each  limb  and  fragment  of  a  limb  formed  co-ordinate  parts 
of  a  well-adjusted  whole  ;  and,  through  all  their  deviations 
from  the  form  and  proportion  of  the  limbs  of  other  quad- 
rupeds,  affording  fresh  proofs  of  the  infinitely  varied  and 
inexhaustible  contrivances  of,  creative  wisdom."*  One 

*  Dr.  Bucklnnd,  Bridge  water  Treatise,  p.  104. 


322  THE    SIXTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

of  the  most  extraordinary  animals  of  the  Edentata  order 
is  the  hedge-hog,  of  which  several  varieties  are  found  in 
Australia.  Like  all  the  other  ant-eaters,  it  has  a  long 
slender  beak,  with  a  prehensile  tongue  ;  short  feet  equipped 
with  claws,  and  a  body  shaped  like  that  of  the  domestic 
pig ;  but  instead  of  scales  or  hair,  it  is  covered  with  a 
substance  resembling  feathers,  which  serve  to  turn  the 
rain  like  those  of  fowls.  Another  variety  of  the  animal 
has  the  bill  of  the  duck,  and  is  called  the  Ornithorhynchus 
in  consequence.  This,  however,  is  coated  with  hair. 
They  all  burrow  in  the  ground,  and  swim  and  dive  in  the 
shallow  rivers  for  food,  precisely  like  ducks,  for  which 
purpose  they  also  have  webbed  feet.  The  common  Euro- 
pean hedgehog  has  also  a  long  pointed  snout,  but  its 
food  consists  mainly  of  insects,  worms,  and  fruits.  Its 
armor  is  something  like  that  of  the  porcupine,  and,  rolling 
itself  into  a  round  ball,  its  bristling  points  keep  its  nu- 
merous enemies  at  bay.  It  is  a  harmless  and  inoffensive 
animal,  and  though  in  many  respects  re'sembling  the  ant- 
eaters,  it  belongs  to  another  order  of  animals. 

The  order  of  Rodentia,  which  is  the  fifth  in  the  Mam- 
malian series,  comprises  all  animals  distinguished  for  their 
gnawing  propensities,  and  of  which  squirrels,  mice,  and 
rats  are  familiar  and  somewhat  obtrusive  examples.  The 
squirrels  embrace  many  genera,  distinguished  principally 
by  color  or  some  other  minor  features — as  the  red,  the 
gray,  the  black,  the  ground,  the  flying,  and  the  long-tailed 
varieties.  The  rats  also  comprise  many  different  groups, 
as  those  popularly  known  as  the  house,  the  field,  the  ship, 
the  water,  and  the  musk  rats.  The  mouse  is  equally 
varied  in  type,  and  even  more  numerous.  Besides  these, 
the  marmot,  the  beaver,  the  porcupine,  the  hare,  the  rab- 
bit, the  guinea  pig,  the  cavy  and  the  chinchilla  of  South 
America,  all  belong  to  the  gnawing  fraternity.  The  dental 
apparatus  of  these  animals  is  well  calculated  to  subserve 


RATS,    SQUIRRELS,    BEAVERS,    HARES,    ETC.  323 

tleir  natural  proclivities  and  habits — the  teeth  growing 
as  rapidly  as  they  are  worn  down,  and  being  formed  in 
su:h  a  way  that  they  answer  the  same  purpose  as  a  file 
and  chisel.  The  beavers  are  thus  able  to  cut  and  rasp 
down  considerable  trees,  while  the  rats  and  mice  gnaw 
their  way  to  the  secret  recesses  of  spoils  and  plunder. 
All  these  animals,  but  more  especially  the  rats  and  mice, 
have  an  uncompromising  enemy  in  man,  as  well  as  in  the 
feline  and  canine  races  ;  yet  such  is  their  wonderful  pro- 
lificacy, that  they  still  maintain  their  ground,  and  this, 
too,  in  the  face  of  their  own  intestine  wars  and  cannibal 
appetites.  Like  the  persecuted  Jew,  they  are  found  all 
over  the  earth,  on  the  sea  and  on  the  land ;  in  the  pal- 
aces of  the  rich  and  the  lowly  hovels  of  the  poor ;  in  the 
well-filled  granaries  of  the  farmer  and  in  the  filthy  sewers 
and  subterranean  recesses  of  the  city.  Essentially  cos- 
mopolitan, like  the  descendants  of  poor  Cain,  they  are 
"  fugitives  and  vagabonds"  wherever  they  may  go,  and 
have  no  friends  on  whom  they  can  rely  in  the  hour  of 
peril,  even  among  their  own  species  or  around  their  own 
domestic  hearth.  In  China,  indeed,  their  social  position 
is  somewhat  superior  to  that  occupied  in  republican 
America  or  under  the  constitutional  monarchy  of  Eng- 
land ;  yet,  even  there,  they  are  only  recognized  at  the 
festive  board,  where  they  are  invariably  involved  in  the 
stews  and  broils  of  the  bill  of  fare  ! 

The  fur  of  the  squirrel,  and  of  some  of  the  rats,  the  bea- 
ver, and  the  hare,  was  formerly  of  some  value,  but  they 
have  all  depreciated  of  late  years  with  the  progress  of 
textile  manufactures.  Nearly  all  these  creatures  abound 
in  America,  and  it  would  be  useless  to  occupy  space  with 
a  description.  The  fossil  genera  in  the  Tertiary  are  nu- 
merous, embracing  no  less  than  five  or  six  different  types, 
while  the  remains  of  those  still  living  are  widely  diffused 
in  caverns  and  the  modern  alluvial  deposits. 


324  THE    SIXTH    DAY  -GEOLOGICAL. 

The  Cheiroptera  embrace  tlie  different  genera  of  bats, 
of  which  there  are  four  or  five,  among  them  the  ternate  or 
vampire  of  the  East  Indies.  The  bat  has  its  claws  or 
fingers  elongated  to  stretch  out  a  thin  membrane,  like  a 
fan,  by  means  of  which  it  flies.  It  is  covered  with  a  deli- 
cate fur,  like  the  mouse,  and  ventures  forth  at  night,  gen- 
erally preferring  for  its  nocturnal  haunts  old,  dilapidated, 
and  abandoned  buildings.  The  vampire  of  India  is  a 
blood-sucker,  and  is  so  insidious  in  its  attacks  upon  per- 
sons asleep,  that  instances  have  occurred  of  their  bleeding 
to  death  in  bed.  The  wound  is  generally  inflicted  on  the 
foot,  and  it  is  so  small  that  it  hardly  exceeds  the  puncture 
of  a  pin;  yet  from  this  the  animal. will  suck  enormous 
quantities  of  blood,  which  will  continue  to  flow  long  after 
it  has  gorged  itself  to  repletion.  All  the  fossil  species  of 
this  order  are  identical  with  those  now  living,  and  they 
are  found  in  nearly  all  the  later  strata  of  the  Tertiary,  and 
the  caverns  of  the  modern  era.  Their  fossils  are  mainly 
confined  to  Europe  and  South  America,  where  the  living 
species  still  flourish  extensively. 

The  order  of  Amphibia  is  made  up  of  seals,  embracing 
the  marine  and  river  seal,  the  sea-bear,  the  sea-lion,  and 
the  sea-horse  or  walrus.  Their  extremities  are  so  modi- 
fied that  they  all  swim  with  ease  and  dexterity.  Their 
principal  habitat  is  in  the  cold  latitudes  of  the  North — 
especially  Greenland,  Nova  Zembla,  and  Hudson's  Bay. 
The  common  seal  is  a  long  animal,  gradually  tapering 
from  the  middle  to  the  head  and  tail,  and  provided  with 
two  legs,  which  answer  the  purpose  of  paddles  in  swim- 
ming. In  some  genera  the  head  is  thick  and  massive, 
and  in  others  tapering  from  the  neck,  like  that  of  the 
leopard.  The  sea-lion  has  its  legs  in  front,  with  an 
enormous  breast  and  neck ;  the  sea-horse  or  walrus  has  a 
much  larger  body,  and,  in  addition,  is  supplied  with  two 
and  sharp  tusks,  which  he  uses  in  climbing  and  in 


THE   LION,    THE   TIGER,    THE   PANTHER,    ETC.  325 

grappling  sea-weeds.  The  sea-horse  may  be  seen  in 
large  numbers  sitting  on  floating  ice  or  along  the  margins 
of  northern  seas,  keeping  up  a  low  bellowing.  The  sea- 
lion  is  not  materially  different  in  its  habits,  but,  contrary 
to  the  general  impression,  they  are  said  to  be  courageous 
and  determined,  and  not  readily  repulsed  if  attacked. 
The  old  animals  roar  tremendously,  while  the  younger 
ones  and  the  calves  bellow  like  sheep.  Fossil  specimens 
of  this  order  have  been  found  in  Miocene  beds  of  England 
and  France. 

The  eighth  order  is  composed  of  the  Carnivora  proper, 
and  comprehends  the  great  bulk  of  mammalian  animals. 
The  felis,  or  cat  group,  embraces  lions,  tigers,  panthers, 
jaguars,  leopards,  pumas,  lynxes,  and  the  wild  and  do- 
iiuestic  cat.  The  dogs,  or  canines,  include  the  mastiff, 
the  bull-dog,  the  gray -hound,  the  blood-hound,  the  terrier, 
the  Newfoundland,  the  Mackenzie  river,  the  Esquimaux, 
and  the  St.  Bernard  dogs ;  besides  the  wolf,  the  fox,  and 
the  jackall.  The  ursus,  or,bear  type,  include  all  the  va- 
rieties of  that  animal,  as  well  as  the  raccoon,  the  badger, 
and  the  ratel.  The  civet,  the  ichneumon,  the  weasel,  the 
ferret,  the  pole-cat,  the  sable,  the  otter,  etc.,  comprise 
other  and  independent  varieties. 

From  his  powerful  build,  his  extraordinary  agility,  and 
his  unflinching  courage,  zoologists  have  assigned  the  lion 
the  first  rank  in  the  brute  creation.  Some  travelers,  how- 
ever, who  have  seen  the  lion  and  the  tiger  in  their  native 
jungles,  assign  greater  courage  and  equal  strength  and 
agility  to  the  latter ;  and  it  is  questionable  whether  the 
high  position  usually  awarded  the  former,  might  not  be 
successfully  contested.  The  lion  seldom  weighs  over  five 
hundred  pounds,  is  from  four  to  six  feet  high  in  front,  and 
seven  to  nine  in  length.  His  jaws,  which  are  enormous, 
operate  like  the  cutting  edges  of  shears — the  lower  jaw 
moving  in  an  unward  and  downward  direction,  but  not  in 

" 


326  THE   SIXTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

a  lateral  or  horizontal  one.  In  this,  as  in  many  other  re- 
spects, all  the  felines  are  readily  distinguished  from  the 
ruminants,  who  grind  their  cuds  by  a  sort  of  circular  pro- 
cess. The  padded  paws  of  the  felines,  added  to  their 
muscular  development,  also  give  them  an  exceedingly 
soft  and  graceful  movement,  while  the  whole  carriage  of 
the  lion  is  lofty  in  the  highest  degree.  The  African  lion 
is  by  far  the  largest  and  the  most  spirited,  and  holds  un- 
disputed sway  over  all  the  feline  species,  if  not  over  all 
the  brutes  of  the  earth.  The  lioness  is  usually  smaller 
than  the  male,  is  destitute  of  his  flowing  main,  and  some- 
what different  in  structure.  She  produces  two  or  more 
at  a  birth,  and  watches  her  young  with  much  care  and 
jealous  solicitude,  in  which  her  lord  heartily  co-operates. 
The  tiger,  although  his  general  appearance  is  different, 
resembles  the  lion  in  many  particulars  of  his  structure,  in 
size,  habits,  and  inherent  propensities.  His  coat  is  yellow, 
but  regularly  banded  with  stripes  of  black,  which  extend 
over  the  head,  legs,  and  tail.  His  height  varies  from 
three  to  four  feet,  and  his  length  from  six  to  nine.  He  is 
more  slender  than  the  lion,  and  less  bold  ;  but  has  all  the 
gracefulness  of  a  kitten.  The  tigress  is  also  a  careful 
mother,  and  will  encounter  any  danger  in  behalf  of  her 
young.  The  tiger  is  found  around  the  deserts  of  Asia, 
and  in  the  East  Indian  Islands,  but  his  chief  habitat  in 
modern  times  is  Hindostan  and  China.  The  Royal 
Bengal  tiger  is  the  model  of  his  species,  and  one  cf  the 
most  magnificent  animals  in  the  world.  Singapore,  an 
island  twenty-five  miles  long,  in  the  eastern  archipelago, 
means  the  place  of  lions  ;  but  for  a  long  time  the  term  has 
been  inappropriate,  since  the  lions  have  been  extinguished, 
and  their  place  supplied  by  tigers.  This  would  support 
the  inference  already  suggested,  that  the  tiger  is  probably 
the  strongest  and  most  terrible  in  combat  of  the  two. 
The  tigers  live  in  the  tall  grass  and  jungles  of  the  island, 


THE  LEOPARD,  THE  JAGUAR,  THE  CHETAH,  etc.   327 

but  a  large  number  swim  over  from  the  peninsula,  from 
which  it  is  separated  about  a  mile.  Here  they  watch  the 
movements  of  the  Malay  and  Chinese  laborers,  as  they  go 
to  the  fields  to  work,  and  suddenly  springing  upon  them, 
a  single  blow  on  the  back  of  the  neck,  which  they  break, 
lays  them  dead  upon  the  ground.  It  is  stated,  on  high 
authority,  that  from  three  to  four  hundred  persons  are 
killed  annually  in  Singapore  by  these  ferocious  monsters. 
Though  large  rewards  are  offered  by  the  government  for 
their  destruction,  besides  which  the  skin  is  worth  fifty 
dollars,  but  little  progress  has  been  made  in  their  exter- 
mination. The  leopard,  it  is  generally  thought,  is  of  the 
same  genera  as  the  jaguar  and  the  panther — there  being, 
in  fact,  but  little  difference  except  in  the  spots  of  the  skin. 
They  are  natives  of  Africa,  but  are  found  in  equal 
abundance  in  India.  In  size  they  are  inferior  to  the  tiger, 
the  panther,  or  the  jaguar.  The  leopard  has  a  white  and 
yellow  skin,  dotted  with  irregular  dark  spots  ;  the  jaguar's 
is  similar,  but  the  spots  are  much  larger,  while  that  of  the 
panther  is  a  dark  yellow,  with  compound  or  rosette  spots 
— that  is,  dark  rings  with  black  dots  in  the  interior.  The 
panther  is  found  generally  throughout  Asia  and  Africa,, 
and  certain  genera  exist  in  America.  The  jaguar,  how- 
ever, is  known  only  in  South  America,  and  abounds 
principally  in  Brazil  and  Paraguay.  Nearly  all  the 
animals  thus  far  mentioned,  except  the  lion  and  tiger,  are 
expert  climbers,  and  often  pursue  their  prey  to  the  tops 
of  trees.  Humboldt,  in  his  Aspects  of  Nature,  says  the 
yell  of  the  jaguar  may  be  heard  in  the  forests  of  Brazil, 
mingled  with  the  shrill  long  screeches  of  the  monkeys,  as 
they  leap  in  terror  from  tree  to  tree.  Horses,  cattle,  sheep, 
monkeys,  £sh,  turtles,  snakes,  birds — all  these  are  the  in- 
discriminate and  varied  victims  of  the  animal.  The 
chetah  of  India,  is  a  leopard  which  approaches  some  of 
the  qualities  of  the  cat,  though  it  is  greatly  larger.  It 


328  THE    SIXTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL'. 

has  been  trained  for  hunting  the  wild  antelope,  but  has 
not  been  thoroughly  tamed  or  domesticated.  The  puma 
is  a  native  of  North  and  South  America,  and  has  some- 
times been  called  the  American  lion;  but,  as  compared 
with  the  African  congener,  he  reflects  little  credit  upon 
his  native  heath.  In  South  America  he  is  hunted  with 
dogs,  and  then  lassoed  ;  or  if  the  dogs  ^pursue'  him  to  his 
refuge  in  the  branches  of  a  tree,  he  is  dispatched  with  a 
rifle-ball.  He  is  a  thin  gaunt  animal,  of  a  dirty  yellowish 
color,  but  has  the  powerful  limbs  and  paws  of  the  lion  and 
tiger.  The  ounce  is  a  rare  animal,  one  or  two  specimens 
of  which  have  been  obtained  in  India,  but  whether  it 
exists  to  any  extent  in  other  parts  of  Asia  or  of  Africa, 
has  not  been  ascertained.  It  is  supposed  to  form  a 
distinct  species  of  the  feline  group.  It  is  spotted  like  the 
leopard,  but  its  hair  is  long  and  somewhat  shaggy.  The 
ocelot  is  another  native  of  South  America,  and  has  a  skin 
remarkable  for  its  brilliance  and  beauty.  The  prevailing 
yellow  of  the  leopard,  in  this  animal,  is  tinged  with  a 
tawny  hue,  and  covered  with  long  reddish-black  spots, 
which  extend  to  -all  its  limbs.  Like  all  the  others,  it  is  an 
expert  climber,  and  lies  concealed  among  the  foliage  of 
trees,  ready  to  pounce  upon  monkeys,  or  other  animals  of 
inferior  strength.  It  is  difficult  to  tame,  and  has  the  repu- 
tation of  being  the  most  restless  and  ferocious  of  the  feline 
race,  though  it  will  avoid  dogs  until  hard  pressed.  The 
lynx  is  celebrated  for  its  clear  and  extended  vision,  and 
for  its  wide  geographical  distribution.  It  was,  and  is 
still  found  in  nearly  all  parts  of  Europe,  Africa,  Asia, 
and  America,  but  with  ever-varying  local  characteris- 
tics, especially  in  the  quality  of  its  fur — all  of  which  may 
be  attributed  to  the  effects  of  climate,  and  to  other 
physical  circumstances.  The  skins  of  the  lynx  comprise 
a  leading  item  in  the  fur  trade  of  Russia,  America,  and 
the  British  provinces.  It  used  to  be  very  numerous 


THE  OUNCE,  THE  CAT,  THE  LYNX,  ETC.       329 

around  our  northern  lakes ;  and  the  Hudson's  Bay 
company,  not  many  years  ago,  obtained  from  six  to  nine 
thousand  skins  annually.  But  the  lynx  has  now  nearly 
disappeared  in  that  quarter,  and  the  fur  trade  has  dwindled 
to  a  mere  cipher,  compared  with  what  it  was  fifty  years 
ago.  The  ancient  haunts  of  the  wild  beast,  and  the  no 
less  savage  Indian,  are  now  becoming  the  abodes  of 
civilized  man  ;  and  the  beautiful  transparent  lakes  which 
separate  our  states  from  the  British  possessions,  are  fur- 
rowed by  the  steam  and  the  sailing  vessel,  instead  of  the 
frail  fur-laden  barges  of  the  red  man,  seeking  the  far- 
off  stations  of  the  traders.  The  fur  of  the  lynx  is  long, 
soft,  and  silky,  and  presents  a  delicate  brownish_  gray 
aspect.  It  was  always  held  in  high  repute  in  the  market, 
but  varied  in  value  from  three  to  thirty  dollars  each.  The 
animal,  in  its  natural  condition,  is  as  playful  as  the  lamb ; 
nevertheless  it  feasts  upon  the  weaker  animals,  and  from 
its  position  among  the  branches  of  trees,  often  pounces 
upon  deer  and  sheep,  whose  blood  affords  a  rare  delicacy. 
The  wild  cat  is  supposed  by  some  naturalists  to  be  iden- 
tical with  the  domestic  animal ;  but  this  has  been  denied. 
The  structure,  it  is  true,  presents  no  perceptible  difference ; 
but  the  color  of  the  wild  cat  is  generally  steadfast  with 
the  local  species,  while  that  of  the  domestic  animal  is 
constantly  varying,  even  with  the  same  brood.  Besides, 
the  wild  cat  is  thought  to  be  irreclaimably  ferocious ;  and 
there  is  no  known  instance  of  its  having  been  tamed  and 
domesticated.  The  wild  animal  sometimes  attains  an  enor- 
mous size — the  domestic  animal  varies  but  little.  There 
is  a  peculiarity  in  the  formation  of  the  eye  of  the  cat,  and 
to  some  extent  in  all  the  feline  family,  by  which  they  are 
enabled  to  see  to  better  advantage  at  night  than  during 
the  day — hence  their  predaceous  instincts  are  strictly  noc- 
turnal. Although  cats  are  not  named  in  the  Bible,  they 
w*n-e  domesticated  among  the  Egyptians,  and  mummioa 


330  THE   SIXTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

of  them  have  been  found  in  Thebes,  and  sculptured  figure! 
on  the  monuments  of  the  Pharaohs. 

The  Canine  family  includes  our  good  friend  Ponto, 
whose  wonderful  sagacity  is  referred  to  by  Mr.  Alfred 
Jingle,  in  the  Pickwick  Papers.  If  there  is  one  feature 
more  prominent  than  another  to  distinguish  him  from 
other  animals,  it  is  his  extraordinary  friendship,  fidelity, 
and  devotion  to  man.  No  matter  who  or  what  you  are, 
or  where  you  go,  your  faithful  dog,  like  the  devoted 
spouse  of  Wilkins  Micawber,  "will  never  desert  you." 
The  lonely  hermit  in  the  wilderness  ;  the  traveler  by  the 
wayside  ;  the  miser  counting  his  greasy  gold  ;  the  shop- 
keeper arnid  his  wares ;  the  children  romping  on  the  hills, 
or  the  family  mansion  sheltering  its  sleeping  inmates — all 
are  jealously  guarded  by  this  faithful  watchman,  quick  to 
give  the  alarm,  and  often  bold  to  pursue  and  seize  the 
stealthy  invader.  The  dog  is  the  only  real  and  disinter- 
ested friend  which  man  can  rely  upon  through  all  the 
changing  phases  of  worldly  fortune.  He  is  the  first  to 
welcome  you  home,  and  the  last  and  most  reluctant  in  his 
conge.  He  shares  with  you  all  the  excitements  of  the 
hunt ;  points  out  the  fluttering  game,  runs  down  the 
bounding  deer,  pursues  the  fox  to  his  hole,  and  the  climber 
to  his  tree  ;  and,  at  the  risk  of  his  own  life,  will  attack  the 
near,  the  tiger,  or  the  lion,  to  save  yours  !  Of  the  differ- 
ent species,  it  may  be  remarked  in  brief  that  the  Mastiff 
is,  par  excellence,  the  house-dog.  He  is  large  and  stately, 
with  immense  ears,  a  long  tail,  and  possesses  unusual  in- 
telligence, and  a  demeanor  dignified,  quiet,  and  unobtru- 
sive. The  Bull-dog  has  a  short  stumpy  tail,  a  thick  head, 
or  snub  nose,  short  ears,  and  a  surly  demeanor.  His 
courage,  however,  is  wonderful,  and  he  will  give  battle 
with  his  last  expiring  breath.  An  old  law  of  England 
once  required  that  no  bull  should  be  slaughtered  until  he 
had  first  been  baited.  This  act  was  passed  by  Parliament 


THE   DOG.  331 

expresisy  to  encourage  the  amusement  of  bull-baiting ; 
and  it  was  owing  to  the  universality  of  this  baroarous 
sport  that  the  peculiar  character  of  the  bull-dog  was  de- 
veloped. In  seizing  cattle,  the  bull-dog  generally  attacks 
the  lip,  the  tongue,  the  eye,  or  some  other  vulnerable  part 
of  the  face,  where  he  often  hangs  until  released  by  the 
complete  mutilation  or  dismemberment  of  the  organ. 
This  dog,  unlike  most  of  the  species,  attacks  his  enemy 
without  barking ;  and,  when  occasion  seems  to  justify  it 
he  will  not  hesitate  to  attack  a  man.  Although  bull 
baiting  has  long  since  lost  its  ancient  respectability  in 
England,  the  stamina  of  the  ox  and  the  fierce  expression 
of  the  dog  have  been  daguerreotyped  on  the  national 
character,  if  not  sometimes  upon  individual  feature  !  The 
sobriquet  of  John  Bull  is  consequently  not  only  signifi- 
cant, but  it  is  c?o(7-matically  appropriate.  Of  hounds, 
there  are  three  rather  distinct  characters — the  blood,  the 
gray,  and  the  fox  hounds.  The  blood-hound  is  the  largest, 
and  has  considerable  resemblance  to  the  mastiff.  His  ears 
and  tail  are  long,  his  forehead  broad,  nostrils  wide  and 
long,  and  face  narrow.  lie  is  distinguished  for  the  accu- 
racy and  perfection  of  his  scent,  in  consequence  of  which 
he  has  often  been  employed  in  war  to  hunt  down  the 
enemy,  especially  negroes,  and  midnight  robbers.  He 
has  been  termed  the  policeman  of  the  canine  family ;  but 
his  fondness  for  blood  often  renders  him  also  an  execu- 
tioner. He  is  even  now  employed  in  portions  of  the 
South,  and  very  extensively  in  Cuba.  The  gray-hound  is 
an  exceedingly  light  and  fragile  animal,  and  is  the  swift- 
est dog  of  the  chase.  Its  powers  of  scent  are  very  infe- 
rior, however,  and  it  is  o^ly  valuable  for  its  extraordinary 
speed  in  pursuit  of  game.  The  fox-hound  is  more  remark- 
able for  its  powers  of  endurance  in  the  chase  than  for 
swiftness  or  accuracy  of  scent.  In  form  it  is  not  materi- 
ally different  from  the  blood-hound,  except  that  it  ia 


332  THE    SIXTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

generally  lighter  and  smaller.  The  terrier  has  some  re 
semblance  to  the  bull-dog,  with  which  he  has  often  been 
crossed ;  but  its  instincts  are  more  particularly  directed 
against  rats.  Another  species,  however,  is  a  good  field- 
hunter,  and  likes  the  pursuit  of  larger  game,  as  the  fox, 
the  squirrel,  and  the  opossum.  The  Lurcher  may  justty 
be  termed  the  natural  thief  of  the  race.  He  has  a  sneak- 
ing'look,  and  a  shaggy,  ill-conditioned  coat — in  his  perso 
nal  appearance  rather  a  Jacques  Strops  than  a  seedy 
Robert  Macaire.  He  has  a  fine  scent,  which  serves  at 
night  the  same  purpose  as  the  dark  lantern  of  the  burglar. 
He  pounces  upon  his  victims  without  any  premonitory 
barks  or  growls,  and  sneaks  away  as  stealthily  as  he  came. 
His  robberies  became  so  notorious  in  England,  in  connec- 
tion with  professional  poachers,  that  the  breed  was  finally 
proscribed  by  law,  and  has  lately  been  nearly  extinguished. 
Specimens  of  more  or  less  purity,  however,  may  be  found 
in  the  United  States,  and  in  almost  every  village  or  way- 
side cottage.  The  common  cur  unfortunately  has  but  too 
large  an  infusion  of  his  thieving  propensities,  with  the 
additional  one  of  barking  furiously  at  every  passing 
object.  This  latter  quality  was  never  borrowed — it  is 
inherent  in  the  very  nature  of  the  cur — of  all  curs,  whether 
canine  or  human.  We  now  turn  to  three  varieties  of  the 
dog,  whose  noble  bearing,  fine  proportions,  industrious 
habits,  general  intelligence,  and  benevolence  of  character, 
it  is  pleasing  to  contemplate.  These  are  all  inhabitants 
of  cold,  dreary,  and  inhospitable  climes,  as  if  adversity 
subdued  the  baser  instincts,  and  nourished  only  the  nobler 
and  more  generous  impulses  of  the  canine  race  !  The 
Esquimaux  dog  has  the  ears  of  a  fox,  with  the  head  of  a 
wolf.  His  tail  is  large  and  bushy,  and  curls  into  two 
coils  over  his  back.  His  body  is  protected  from  the  cold 
blasts  and  snows  of  his  native  region  by  long  and  fine 
hair.  To  the  natives  he  is  perfectly  indispensable — in 


THE  BULL-DOG,  THE  TERRIER,  THE  LURCHER,  ETC.   333 

fact,  without  his  services  they  could  not  long  survive. 
Harnessed  in  teams  to  sledges,  they  travel  at  the  rate  of 
sixty  miles  per  day  over  snow  and  ice.  The  teams  are 
preceded  by  a  leader,  who  follows  the  instructions  of  the 
driver.  Furnished  with  a  keen  scent,  they  will  pursue 
their  way  through  the  most  tremendous  storms  of  snow, 
and  endure  the  most  intense  privations  and  fatigues 
Besides  transporting  burdens  on  sledges,  these  dogs  are 
skillful  hunters,  and  invariably  assist  the  Esquimaux  in 
capturing  the  seal,  the  reindeer,  and  the  bear.  They  have 
not  the  docility  of  our  domestic  dog,  because  their  masters 
are  themselves  deficient  in  the  elements  essential  to  im- 
part it ;  but  they  are  in  all  respects  intelligent,  useful,  and 
reliable  ;  and,  in  the  position  which  discerning  Nature  has 
assigned  them,  are  infinitely  more  valuable,  in  a  compara- 
tive sense,  than  the  horse  is  to  us.  The  Newfoundland 
dog  is  often  six  feet  in  length,  from  his  nose  to  the  tip  of 
the  tail,  which  latter  is  seldom  over  two  feet.  His  weight 
and  general  proportions  correspond,  from  which  it  will  be 
seen  that  he  is  the  giant  of  the  canine  family.  He  is  a 
splendid-looking  animal,  and  combines  with  unsurpassed 
strength  the  gentleness  of  a  lamb.  If  the  blood-hound  is 
the  policeman,  the  lurcher  the  thief,  the  bull-dog  the 
butcher,  the  Esquimaux  dog  the  traveler,  the  mastiff  the 
watchman,  and  the  gray-hound  the  sportsman,  then  we  can 
recognize  in  the  Newfoundland  dog  the  old-fashioned 
country  gentleman.  Compared  with  the  others,  his  de- 
portment is  dignified  and  courtly  ;  but  unlike  his  modern 
congeners  of  the  human  family — (the  conventional  gentle- 
men whose  exquisite  polish,  like  the  daguerreotype, 
always  reveals  the  parvenue) — he  is  eminently  practical, 
and  devotes  the  faculties  with  which  nature  has  endowed 
him  to  the  use  and  benefit  of  man.  In  the  snowy  regions 
of  Newfoundland  he  is  an  important  auxiliary  to  the 
woodman,  and,  harnessed  in  sledges,  draws  the  wood  from 


334  THE   SIXTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

the  forest  to  the  landing  without  the  aid  of  a  superintend- 
ing driver.  He  also  carries  messages  and  packages  ;  and 
being  an  excellent  swimmer  and  diver,  for  which  he  is 
provided  with  webbed  feet,  his  services  are  often  equally 
efficient  in  the  water  as  on  land;  and  he  has  rescued  many 
an  individual  from  a  watery  grave.  Unlike  other  dogs, 
his  aquatic  habits  extend  so  far  that  he  can  make  a  mea\ 
of  fish,  whether  cooked  or  raw.  Byron  had  a  Newfound 
land  dog,  called  Boatswain,  to  which  he  was  greatly  at 
tached,  and  upon  the  death  of  the  faithful  animal,  he 
erected  a  little  monument  to  his  memory  at  Newstead 
Abbey.  The  following  epitaph  was  perhaps  only  a  grate- 
ful tribute  to  the  real  merits  of  the  poor  animal : 

"  When  some  proud  son  of  man  returns  to  earth, 
IJnknown  to  glory  but  upheld  by  birth, 
The  sculptor's  art  exhausts  the  pomp  of  woe, 
And  storied  urns  record  who  rests  below ; 
When  all  is  done,  upon  the  tomb  is  seen, 
Not  what  he  was,  but  what  he  should  have  been ; 
But  the  poor  dog,  in  life  the  firmest  friend, 
The  first  to  welcome,  the  foremost  to  defend, 
Whose  honest  heart  is  still  his  master's  own, 
Who  labors,  fights,  lives,  breathes  for  him  alone, 
Unhonored  falls,  unnoticed  all  his  worth, 
Denied  in  heaven  the  soul  he  held  on  earth  : 
While  man,  vain  insect !  hopes  to  be  forgiven, 
And  claims  himself  a  sole  exclusive  heaven. 
Oh,  man !  thou  feeble  tenant  of  an  hour, 
Debased  by  slavery,  or  corrupt  by  power, 
Who  knows  thee  well  must  quit  thee  with  disgust, 
Degraded  mass  of  animated  dust ! 
Thy  love  is  lust,  thy  friendship  all  a  cheat, 
Thy  smiles  hypocrisy,  thy  words  deceit ! 
By  nature  vile,  ennobled  but  by  name, 
Each  kindred  brute  might  bid  thee  blush  for  shame. 
Ye !  who  perchance  behold  this  simple  urn, 
Pass  on — it  honors  none  you  wish  to  mourn  : 
To  mark  a  friend's  remains  these  stones  arise  ; 
I  never  know  but  one — and  here  he  lies." 


ESQUIMAUX   AND   NEWFOUNDLAND   DOGS.  335 

Near  one  of  the  most  savage  passes  of  the  Alps,  on  the 
great  Mount  St.  Bernard,  is  located  the  convent  of  that 
name,  inhabited  by  a  society  of  monks  who  devote  their 
lives  to  the  entertainment  and  rescue  of  travelers  who  may 
be  overtaken  by  snow  storms  or  avalanches  of  frozen 
sleet,  ice,  and  earth.  Such  are  the  dangers  of  this  fright- 
ful mountain  gulf,  that  many  travelers  are  constantly  and 
unavoidably  lost,  being  suddenly  overtaken  and  buried  in 
snow-drifts,  or  killed  by  the  descending  avalanches,  which 
sometimes  carry  large  masses  of  rock,  earth,  and  trees 
with  them  over  the  frowning  precipices.  The  good  monks 
have  reared  a  race  of  dogs  to  assist  them  in  their  benevo- 
lent and  angelic  labors  ;  and  such  is  the  degree  of  intelli- 
gence and  efficiency  which  they  have  acquired,  that  they 
have  been  the  instruments  of  rescuing  numbers  of  unfor- 
tunate travelers,  and  conducting  them  safely  to  the  cheer- 
ful hearth  of  the  convent.  Every  dog  is  furnished  with  a 
bottle  of  spirits  suspended  around  his  neck,  or  a  cloak  or 
blanket,  intended  for  the  benefit  of  the  exhausted  way- 
farer. The  scent  of  the  dogs  is  so  keen  that  they  can 
readily  trace  a  man  in  the  snow,  although  he  may  be 
buried  many  feet  beneath  the  surface.  When  an  unfor- 
tunate is  thus  found,  the  dogs  raise  a  vociferous  barking, 
which  is  the  signal  for  the  monks  to  come  to  their  aid. 
In  many  instances  bodies  are  found  after  life  is  extinct, 
when  they  are  conveyed  to  the  convent  and  preserved  for 
the  future  identification  of  their  friends  or  relations.  On 
one  occasion,  a  mother  was  crossing  the  mountain  with 
her  son,  a  lad  of  some  seven  or  eight  years.  An  ava- 
lanche overtook  her,  and  buried  her  in  the  snow.  When 
the  dogs  arrived,  she  had  already  perished  ;  but  the  boy 
had  sufficient  strength  and  intelligence  to  mount  the  back 
of  one  of  the  animals,  and  was  thus  borne  in  safety  to  the 
convent.  This  dog  for  some  years  after,  carried  a  medal 
commemorating  the  event,  but  finally  perished  himself 
22 


336  THE   SIXTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

while  engaged  in  his  benevolent  work.  Such  incidents  as 
these  raise  the  animal  above  the  level  of  his  species,  and 
challenge  our  highest  admiration  and  gratitude.  The  St. 
Bernard  dog  is  a  large  and  fine-looking  animal,  with  long 
hair,  and  a  bushy  curling  tail.  .His  face  expresses  intelli 
gence  and  docility  in  the  highest  degree.  There  are 
several  other  varieties  of  the  dog,  as  the  spaniels,  the 
mongrels,  the  poodles,  etc.  ;  but,  after  contemplating  the 
character  of  the  St.  Bernard,  it  would  be  a  degrading  re- 
flection on  that  noble  animal  to  speak  of  any  others,  and 
especially  such  as  we  have  indicated.  While  there  is  an 
extraordinary  variety  in  the  size,  color,  habits,  and  in- 
stincts of  the  race,  it  is  a  no  less  singular  fact  that  their 
physiological  and  osseous  structure  is  invariably  the  same. 
The  little  lap-dog,  with  his  red  ribbon  and  bell,  and  his 
passe  nurse  and  mistress,  has  exactly  the  same  number  of 
bones  as  the  giant  of  Newfoundland.  The  conformation 
of  all  is  the  same  ;  the  deviations  are  merely  local,  to  meet 
the  requirements  of  the  position  to  which  the  Creator  has 
consigned  them. 

The  Canine  group,  however,  is  not  confined  to  dogs. 
It  also  includes  the  wolf,  the  fox,  and  the  hyena.  The 
wolf  has  a  keen  scent,  and,  like  the  rest  of  the  canine 
race,  is  a  good  hunter.  The  deer  of  the  forest,  and  the 
sheep  and  oxen  of  the  field,  often  fall  a  prey  to  his  vora- 
cious jaws.  Under  circumstances  of  intense  hunger,  he 
has  not  hesitated  to  attack  man  ;  but  the  instances  of  this 
are  few.  A  species  of  wolf  is  still  very  numerous  and 
predaceous  in  the  plains  of  the  South  and  West,  and  they 
are  very  unpleasant  neighbors  to  the  frontier  settlers  and 
the  "squatter  sovereigns."  In  some  instances,  the  cabins 
of  the  planters  are  surrounded  by  deep  trenches,  covered 
with  oscillating  platforms,  well  supplied  with  bait.  The 
wolves,  as  they  gather  upon  this  platform,  are  precipitated 
into  the  pit  by  their  own  weight,  and  before  morning,  like 


THE  ST.  BERNARD  AND  OTHER  DOGS.       337 

the  Kilkenny  cats,  it  is  found  that  they  have  generally 
dispatched  each  other  by  their  own  fraternal  quarrels 
The  wolf  of  New  South  Wales  neither  barks  nor  growls, 
but  erects  the  hair  of  its  skin,  when  surprised,  like  the 
quills  of  the  "fretful  porcupine."  Its  prevailing  color 
is  brown,  interspersed  with  black  stripes  from  the  fore 
shoulders  to  the  tail.  The  fox  embraces  many  varieties, 
but  the  principal  genera  are  the  red  fox  of  Europe  and 
America,  the  white  Arctic  fox,  and  the  jackal  of  Asia  and 
Africa.  The  habits  and  cunning  of  this  animal  are  well 
known.  Although  an  unpleasant  neighbor  to  the  farmer, 
he  has  afforded  more  amusement  in  the  chase  than  any 
other  animal  whatever.  In  England,  indeed,  his  species 
would  long  since  have  been  extinct,  had  not  the  sporting 
gentry  given  liberal  bribes  to  the  farmers  for  their  tolera- 
tion. He  is  a  great  burrower ;  and  after  making  a  noc- 
turnal visit  to  the  poultry  roost,  he  distributes  his  spoil 
in  his  several  subterranean  mansions*.  The  fox  has  a 
thick  fur,  a  long  sweeping  tail,  and  a  cat-like  face.  He 
spends  his  days  in  sleep,  and  his  nights  in  depredations — 
hares,  rabbits,  squirrels,  poultry,  and  birds  are  his  ordi- 
nary food ;  but  sometimes  he  ventures  upon  lambs,  and, 
if  hard-pressed,  will  descend  to  shell-fish  and  crustaceans. 
He  is  a  crafty  villain,  and  has  little  in  his  character  to 
deserve  sympathy  and  commiseration,  or  to  shield  him 
from  the  desperate  fury  of  the  hounds. 

The  Arctic  fox,  like  the  Polar  bear,  changes  his  coat 
from  an  ash  color  to  that  of  a  white  on  the  approach  of 
the  severe  winters  of  his  native  region,  and  the  hairs  then 
become  very  soft,  woolly,  and  long.  In  his  character,  he 
is  not  materially  different  from  the  red  variety  already 
noticed.  He  is  found  only  in  the  colder  latitudes  of  Eu- 
rope, Asia,  and  North  America.  Jackals  inhabit  Asia 
and  Africa,  and  usually  travel  in  large  packs,  when  they 
sometimes  venture  to  attack  their  superiors  in  strength. 


338  THE   SIXTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

The  habits  and  appearance  of  these  animals  are  very  simi 
lar — they  are  all  burrowers,  all  great  sleepers  during  the 
day,  and  prowling  depredators  at  night.  The  hyena  has 
two  leading  genera — the  striped  animal  of  Africa  and 
portions  of  Asia,  and  the  spotted  one  of  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope.  They  are  distinguished  for  their  savage  strength, 
their  rapacious  appetites,  their  long  rough  hair,  and  their 
general  ungainly  and  ferocious  appearance.  They  live 
mostly  in  caverns,  and  those  of  the  Tertiary  period  are 
literally  strewn  with  the  bones  of  the  animals  upon  which 
they  feasted. 

The  family  of  bears  includes  several  genera  of  that 
animal,  besides  those  of  raccoons  and  badgers.  Their 
teeth  are  similar  in  number  and  arrangement  to  those  of 
the  dog,  and  although  the  bear  is  carnivorous  to  some  ex- 
tent, it  seems  to  prefer  vegetable  food,  especially  fruit  and 
tender  herbs.  They  reside  during  the  winter  in  caves 
and  mountainous  recesses,  where  they  rear  their  young. 
It  is  an  unoffending  animal  until  molested,  or  when  acting 
in  defense  of  her  young,  for  which  the  mother  has  an  ex- 
traordinary affection,  and  will  lay  down  her  life  in  their 
behalf.  It  can  climb  trees  with  facility,  and  is  equally  at 
home  in  the  water — the  white  or  polar  being,  in  fact, 
amphibious.  The  brown  or  black  bear  has  a  long-haired 
skin,  and  thick  muscular  legs,  with  padded  feet  and  sharp 
projecting  claws.  Its  walk  is  very  soft  and  stealthy,  and 
it  betrays  no  inconsiderable  cunning  in  its  midnight 
prowls — often  approaching  the  cabins  of  woodmen  in 
the  forest,  and  helping  itself  to  whatever  spoil  may  be 
left  exposed.  A  touching  incident  is  related  in  Lord 
Mulgrave's  Voyage  for  the  Discovery  of  a  Northwest  Pas- 
sage. A  female  bear  and  her  cubs  were  approaching  the 
ship,  when  the  sailors  fired,  killing  the  cubs  and  wound- 
ing the  mother.  Regardless  of  her  own  sufferings  and 
danger  she  scorned  to  withdraw  and  leave  her  young 


BEARS,  RACCOONS,  AND  THE  EAGLE.        339 

behind.  She  would  not  understand  that  they  were  dead  ; 
she  placed  food  before  them,  and  by  every  endearing  rao 
tion  endeavored  to  raise  them  up  with  her  paws ;  she 
withdrew  and  looked  back,  as  if  expecting  them  to  fol- 
low ;  but  perceiving  that  they  lay  motionless,  she  re- 
turned, and  with  inexpressible  fondness  walked  around 
them,  pawing  them,  licking  their  wounds,  and  moaning 
the  while.  At  last,  as  if  receiving  the  unwilling  convic- 
tion that  they  were  dead  indeed,  she  turned  toward  the 
ship,  and  uttered  a  fierce  and  bitter  growl  against  the 
murderers,  to  which  they  replied  by  another  volley  of  shot 
that  laid  her  beside  her  young.* 

Bear-baiting  was  one  of  the  classical  amusements  of  our 
English  ancestors,  two  or  three  centuries  ago.  It  has 
been  rarely  tolerated  in  modern  times  ;  but  bear-dancing 
is  not  an  unusual  feature  in  the  entertainments  of  the  ring, 
garnished  with  the  grotesque  movements  and  the  stereo- 
typed sallies  of  Mr.  Merry  man.  The  Polar  or  white  bear 
differs  from  the  ordinary  species,  mainly  in  color,  and  in 
having  his  feet  clothed  with  hair,  for  the  double  purpose 
of  giving  him  warmth  and  of  enabling  him  to  maintain  his 
footing  on  the  smooth  ice  and  sleet  of  his  native  glaciers. 
The  smaller  animals  of  the  land  and  the  sea  are  his 
ordinary  food;  but  being  an  excellent  swimmer  and  diver, 
he  is  a  successful  adventurer  in  seals  and  large  fish.  Tke 
former  he  approaches  by  a  series  of  adroit  dives,  and 
when  he  gets  sufficiently  near,  a  single  bound  and  hug 
serves  to  secure  the  victim,  whether  it  be  leisurely  repos- 
ing on  an  iceberg,  or  floundering  in  the  water. 

The  raccoon  is  very  abundant  in  the  United  States,  and 
some  of  the  genera,  which  consist  of  four  or  five,  are  no 
doubt  natives  either  of  North  or  South  America.  The 
common  animal  has  a  soft  tread,  a  thin  tapering  snout, 

*  Scripture  Natural  History. 


340  THE    SIXTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

broad  head,  white  face,  and  a  long  switching  tail,  having 
rings  of  black.  Its  general  color  is  brownish  grey  Its 
upper  lip,  a  la  genus  homo,  is  furnished  with  a  thick 
black  mustache.  The  raccoon  is  a  great  sleeper  during 
the  day,  and  rolls  itself  into  a  ball  to  avoid  the  glare  of  the 
sun,  which  appears  to  be  inimical  to  its  delicate  vision. 
It  is  extremely  cunning,  and  very  tenacious  of  life — as 
much  so,  perhaps,  as  the  opossum.  Some  twenty  years 
ago,  during  the  excitement  of  politics,  the  'coon  accidently 
became  the  recognized  and  victorious  ensign  of  the  whig 
party.  And  to  politicians  generally,  its  character  is  not 
without  emblematic  significance.  During  the  br*ef  and 
temporary  predominance  of  the  "Know:nothings,"  it  was 
generally  thought  that  the  party  of  Clay  and  Webster  was 
dead ;  but  the  truth  is,  (as  I  think  indications  now  dis- 
closing themselves  sufficiently  demonstrate,)  the  old 
'•coon  was  merely  asleep,  and  he  yet  lives  to  be  borne  in 
triumph  in  the  conservative  processions  of  the  people 
And  why  not  ?  His  character  is  certainly  as  fair  as  that 
of  the  predaceous  vulture  emblazoned  on  our  national 
escutcheon, — a  bird  distinguished  for  little  else  than  its 
prowling  and  tyrannical  habits.  Dr.  Franklin  regretted 
that  he  (the  bald  eagle)  "  had  been  chosen  as  the  representa- 
tive of  our  country.  He  is  a  bird  of  bad  moral  character; 
he  does  not  get  his  living  honestly.  You  may  have  seen 
him  perched  on  some  dead  tree,  where,  too  lazy  to  fish  for 
himself,  he  watches  the  labors  of  the  fishing  hawk,  and 
when  that  diligent  bird  has  at  length  taken  a  fish,  and  is 
bearing  it  to  his  nest  for  the  support  of  his  mate  and 
young  ones,  the  bald  eagle  pursues  him,  and  takes  it 
from  him.  With  all  this  injustice,  he  is  never  in  good 
condition,  and  like  those  among  men  who  live  by  sharp- 
ing and  robbing,  he  is  generally  poor,  and  often  very 
lousy.  Besides,  he  is  a  rank  coward  ;  the  little  king-bird, 
not  1  igger  than  a  sparrow,  attacks  him  boldly,  and  drives 


THE  RACCOON,  THE  RATEL,  ETC.          341 

him  jut  of  the  district.     He  is  therefore,  "says  the  Doctor, 
"  not  a  proper  emblem  for  the  brave  and  honest  Cincinnati 
of  America,  who  have  driven  all  the  king-birds  from  our 
country !"     We  have  said  that  the  'coon  is  cunning ;  and  it 
is  of  a  sort  that  may  be  denominated   Yankee  cunning. 
For  example :  being  an  amateur  in  crustaceans,  he  is  in 
the  habit  of  suspending  his  tail,  in  a  very  insinuating 
manner,   over  the  haunts   of  crabs   and  lobsters,   who, 
naturally  mistaking  it  for  a  delectable  morsel,  clutch  it, 
whereupon  they  are  suddenly  jerked  out  of  the  water  by 
the  astute  fisherman,  and  a  sumptuous  repast  is  derived 
from  their  tender  joints !     There  are  two  varieties  of  the 
raccoon  in   South  America,  known  as  the   coati-mondi. 
In  color  they  are  brown  and  red,  and  are  nearly  as  large 
as  the  fox.     They  often  do  much  mischief  to  the  planta- 
tions, but  their  food  mainly  consists  of  insects  and  reptiles. 
They   are   also   expert   climbers,   and  like   the   squirrel, 
descend  trees  head  foremost.     The  suricate  is   also   a 
native  of  South  America,  and  is  easily  domesticated,  as 
are,  in  fact,  nearly  all  the  animals  belonging  to  this  group. 
The  badger  combines  in  his  nature  some  of  the  features  of 
the  hog,  the  bear,  and  the  genet.     It  is  a  burro wer,  and 
possesses  unusual  strength  in  its  fore  legs,  the  feet  ter- 
minating with  sharp  claws.     It  emits  a  strong  and  un- 
pleasant odor,  resulting  from  a  secretion  in  its  extremities. 
Its  food  consists  principally  of  fruits,  insects,  frogs,  eggs, 
and  those  birds  which  build  on  the   ground   or  on  low 
bushes.     Their  burrows  are  usually  lined  with  straw  and 
other   vegetable    material    to    render    them  warm    and 
comfortable;  and  though  emitting  a  disagreeable  smell, 
they  are  yet  extremely  tidy  in  their  subterraneous  abodes. 
They  are  widely  disseminated  in  Europe,  Asia,  and  North 
America.     The  glutton  is  an  animal  intermediate  between 
the  badger  and  the  coati-mondi ;  but  as  yet,  little  is  known 
of  it.     It  is  a  native  of  South  America,  and  in  captivity 


342  THE    SIXTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

evinces  a  playful  and  sportive  disposition.  The  ratel  is 
found  in  Africa  and  India,  especially  in  the  department 
of  Bengal.  Like  the  fox  and  the  raccoon,  it  spends  the 
day  in  sleep,  and  prowls  upon  birds,  rats,  and  other 
animals  at  night.  It  is  a  skillful  burrower,  and  the  graves 
of-  the  dead  are  not  exempt  from  this  propensity,  unless 
protected  by  a  covering  of  thorns  or  stones.  It  has  a 
partiality  for  honey,  and  under  the  guidance  of  the  forest 
cuckoo,  it  searches  out  the  stores  of  the  hive,  which  are 
usually  erected  on  the  ground,  or  suspended  from  low 
bushes.  Upon  finding  a  hive,  the  ratel  burrows  near  it, 
and  approaches  directly  beneath  it  by  a  subterraneous 
passage.  He  then  emerges  to  the  surface,  and  boldly 
besieges  the  magazine  of  honey.  In  captivity  it  is  said 
to  be  very  frolicsome,  and  resorts  to  various  antics  to 
attract  notice.  The  upper  portion  of  the  body,  from  the 
head  to  the  tail,  is  covered  with  gray,  while  the  sides  and 
under  portions  are  black.  Its  tail  is  moderately  long,  but 
its  whole  appearance  is  peculiar. 

The  civet,  the  ichneumon  of  Egypt,  and  the  genet  ere 
all  distinguished  for  having  an  apparatus  to  secrete  a  sub- 
stance which  imparts  a  a  strong  scent,  more  or  less  musky. 
The  secretion,  in  the  civet,  is  deposited  in  pouches  in  its 
posterior  glands,  which  may  be  extracted  from  the  animal, 
by  means  of  a  spoon,  at  the  average  of  a  drachm  per  week. 
The  musk  is  very  powerful,  and  substances  scented  with 
it  will  retain  it  for  a  long  time.  Every  portion  of  the 
flesh  of  the  animal  is  thoroughly  impregnated  with  it. 
The  scent  is  somewhat  similar  to  pomatum,  and  is  gener 
ally  highly  esteemed.  The  civet  is  about  three  feet  in 
length,  and  its  habits  are  similar  to  those  of  the  fox,  which 
it  resembles  in  the  face,  but  has  a  longer  snout.  Its  color 
is  brownish-gray,  traversed  with  numerous  bands  of  black. 
The  civet  is  a  native  of  Africa,  but  has  been  domesticated 
in  Europe  for  the  production  of  musk.  The  zibet  of  the 


LHE   ICHNEUMON,    THE   WEASEL,    ETC.  34? 

island  of  Java  is  a  near  relation  of  the  civet,  and  is  distin 
guished  for  its  burrowing  and  thieving  propensities- 
being,  in  this  respect,  an  exact  counterpart  of  the  fox. 
The  ichneumon  is  a  native  of  Egypt,  but  is  found  in  all 
parts  of  Asia  and  Africa.  Although  scarcely  larger  than 
a  cat,  it  is  the  deadly  foe  of  young  crocodiles,  snakes,  and 
other  noxious  animals  of  the  torrid  zone.  Its  mode  of 
attack  is  to  dart,  with  extraordinary  agility,  upon  the 
head,  and  seize  them  in  the  most  vital  part.  A  single 
shake  usually  serves  to  break  the  necks  or  backs  of  rep- 
tiles, after  which  they  all  become  powerless  in  its  grasp. 
It  is  also  provided  with  excretory  functions,  but  unlike 
the  civet,  its  secretions  have  a  most  offensive  odor.  In 
appearance  and  habits  it  is  not  unlike  the  weazel — its  feet 
being  armed  with  claws,  its  nose  long  and  tapering,  and 
its  eyes  small  and  flashing.  The  genet  is  beautifully 
spotted,  like  the  leopards,  and  does  not  differ  materially 
from  the  ichneumon  except  that  it  is  larger,  and  instead 
of  emitting  an  offensive  odor,  it  is  rather  pleasant,  being 
that  of  a  delicate  musk.  It  abounds  in  Turkey  and  Spain ; 
$nd  is  characterized  not  only  for  the  beauty  of  its  skin, 
which  is  valuable,  but  also  for  its  cleanliness,  mildness  of 
disposition,  and  skill  as  a  hunter.  The  weasel  stands  at 
the  head  of  a  group  of  animals  which  are  also  distin- 
guished for  imparting,  while  living,  a  most  offensive  odor, 
but  most  of  which  are  nevertheless  valuable  for  their  skins. 
These  are  the  weasel,  the  ferret,  the  stoat,  the  martin, 
the  pole-cat,  the  skunk,  and  the  sable.  These  animals  all 
present  a  long,  round,  and  serpentine  body  and  neck,  and 
though  swift  runners  and  swimmers,  they  have  the  shuffling 
movements  of  snakes  rather  than  quadrupeds.  The  weasel 
is  small,  not  as  large  as  a  common  cat,  has  eyes  remark- 
able for  their  quick  perception,  and  a  color  varying  from 
a  brown  to  a  dirty  white.  While  it  is  found  in  all  parts 
of  Europe,  it  exists  in  great  abundance  in  the  United 


344  THE    SIXTH   PAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

States  It  feeds  principally  on  rats,  mice,  moles,  and 
birds.  The  ferret  is  larger  than  the  weasel,  and  is  a  na- 
tive of  Africa.  It  was  formerly  employed  to  hunt  rats 
and  rabbits,  which  it  would  pursue  into  their  holes  in  the 
earth — hence  the  name.  The  stoat  much  resembles  the 
weasel,  except  in  color,  which  is  more  generally  white, 
particularly  in  high  northern  latitudes.  It  has  sometimes 
been  called  a  white  weasel.  The  martins  comprise  seve- 
ral varieties,  all  of  which  are  very  numerous  in  the  United 
States  and  Canada,  and  the  northern  parts  of  Europe.  It 
is  larger  and  longer  than  .the  weasel  or  the  ferret,  and 
is  furnished  with  a  long  and  switching  tail.  Upward  of 
fifty  thousand  skins  of  this  animal  have  been  obtained,  in 
the  northern  and  western  regions  of  the  United  States 
and  the  British  possessions,  in  one  year ;  and  though  it  is 
allied  to  the  class  of  mustela  vulgaris,  the  odor  from  the 
skin  is  delightfully  musky  and  pleasant.  The  pole-cat  is 
well  known  for  its  offensive  smell,  and  its  nocturnal  depre- 
dations— poultry,  rabbits,  pigeons,  etc.,  being  its  princi- 
pal victims.  It  is  a  great  climber,  and  can  make  its  way 
over  the  smoothest  walls.  It  is  also  a  very  courageous 
warrior,  and  defends  itself  with  considerable  skill  from 
the  attacks  of  dogs,  who  often  beat  a  retreat,  probably 
in  consequence  of  its  disgusting  smell.  He  has  been 
termed  the  prince  of  marauders,  a  title  which  his  cunning, 
skill,  agility,  and  peculiar  qualities  seem  fully  to  merit. 
Notwithstanding  his  odor,  his  skin,  when  dressed  with 
the  hair,  retains  nothing  offensive.  The  skunk  is  an 
American  variety  of  the  pole-cat.  The  upper  part  of  the 
body  is  white,  while  the  lower  is  black.  It  has  long 
shaggy  hair  and  tail,  short  legs,  and  a  long  pointed  snout. 
It  seldom  ventures  out  in  winter,  except  in  the  Southern 
States.  Its  food  consists  mainly  of  rats,  mice,  and  toads. 
When  attacked,  it  emits  a  fetid  discharge,  which  is  offen- 
sive in  the  highest  degree.  The  sable  is  an  inhabitant 


THE  FERRET,  THE  OTTER,  THE  SABLE,  ETC.     345 

of  Russia  and  Siberia,  and  its  fur  is  by  far  the  most  valu- 
able of  any  of  the  family.  It  is  long,  fine,  and  silky,  and 
generally  of  a  very  bright  color.  The  sable  changes  the 
color  of  its  hair  with  the  change  of  the  season,  the  dark 
thin  hairs  being  gradually  superseded  by  white  ones, 
which  form  its  usual  winter  coat.  The  skins  of  the  sable 
imported  annually  from  Russia  vary  from  one  to  two 
hundred  thousand,  and  they  often  command  enormous 
prices.  The  otter,  although  it  does  not  belong  to  this 
group,  has  a  similarly  long  and  slender  build,  but  is  more 
aquatic  in  its  predilections.  Its  fin-like  legs,  feet  webbed 
and  oar-shaped,  and  its  long  rudder-like  tail,  enable  it  to 
make  the  swiftest  and  most  astonishing  evolutions  in  its 
native  rivers  and  lakes.  Its  fur  is  short,  but  extremely 
fine,  and  large  numbers  of  its  skins  have  been  exported 
from  the  American  fur  grounds. 

Such  is  a  brief  glance  at  some  of  the  leading  features 
which  characterize  the  numerous,  varied,  and  remarkable 
animals  comprising  the  order  of  Monadelphians.  We 
could  do  little  more  than  mention  the  families ;  nor  was 
an  extended  description  essential  to  our  purpose.  We 
wish  to  convey  an  idea  of  the  extent  and  variety  of  the 
higher  fauna  of  the  earth  on  the  close  of  the  Sixth  Day ; 
and  our  object  will  have  been  sufficiently  attained  in  the 
enumeration  of  the  principal  known  families  and  groups. 
As  to  their  fossil  remains,  they  are  everywhere  scattered 
throughout  the  higher  Tertiary,  and  it  is  almost  needless 
and  superfluous  to  dwell  on  the  particulars.  The  fossil 
remains  of  extinct  and  living  genera  of  bears  occur  in  great 
abundance  in  France,  Germany  England,  America,  and 
very  likely  all  over  Asia  and  Africa.  Badgers,  dogs, 
hyenas,  and  a  large  number  of  the  feline  type,  both  of 
extinct  and  living  genera,  have  also  been  found  in  caverns, 
and  sometimes  as  low  down  as  the  Pliocene  Tertiary,  in 
all  parts  of  the  globe.  And  their  remains  invariably  ap- 


346  THE    SIXTH    DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

preach  those  of  the  living  species  in  proportion  to  their 
proximity  to  the  present  geological  epoch.  But,  before 
we  enter  upon  a  general  review  of  this  interesting  forma- 
tion, or  make  further  comments  upon  its  animal  and  vege- 
table creations,  two  other  orders  yet  demand  our  attention. 
The  ninth  order  in  the  mammalian  division  is  the  Quad- 
rumana,  which  comprises  apes,  baboons,  and  monkeys. 
All  the  representatives  of  this  order  are  remarkable  for 
having  four  hands,  terminating  in  five  toes  or  fingers,  and 
for  the  general  resemblance  which  certain  of  them  present, 
when  in  an  erect  posture,  to  the  human  species.  This  is 
particularly  the  case  with  the  apes,  of  which  the  Oran- 
outang  is  by  far  the  largest  and  most  perfect  specimen. 
The  anatomical  structure  of  this  animal  is  said  to  be  simi- 
lar to  that  of  man  ;  and,  as  compared  with  some  of  the  lower 
types,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  partition  between 
the  two  races  seems  to  be  very  thin  and  transparent.  We 
saw  a  specimen  of  the  Oran-outang  twenty  years  ago,  and 
had  daily  opportunities  of  witnessing  its  habits  and  move- 
ments. It  was  brought  from  Africa  by  a  fellow-townsman, 
Dr.  S.  M.  E.  Goheen,  who  retained  it  about  his  premises 
for  several  months,  chained  to  a  kennel.  The  pictures 
presented  of  the  animal,  in  works  on  Natural  History,  are 
usually  much  exaggerated,  especially  when  represented  in 
an  erect  position,  which  is  wholly  unnatural  to  it.  It  is 
very  rarely,  and  only  when  attempting  to  climb,  that  the 
Oran-outang  stands  on  its  hind  feet ;  and  it  requires  much 
skill  and  patience  to  train  them  to  the  effort.  The  face, 
too,  is  invariably  flattened ;  in  the  original  specimens  it 
presents  no  regularity  of  feature  whatever,  as  compared 
with  the  human  countenance ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  is  dis- 
gustingly deformed  and  inexpressive.  In  some  of  the 
pictures,  however,  which  we  have  seen,  it  even  surpasses 
many  specimens  of  Hie  human  face — being  furnished  with 
a  regular  beard,  and  cheeks  as  smooth  and  flesh-like  as  if 


THE   ORAN-OUTANG,    ETC.  347 

fresh  from  the  hands  of  the  barber.  Moreover,  it  is  often 
represented  as  exceedingly  plump,  round,  and  muscular 
in  its  physical  conformation ;  whereas  the  very  reverse  is 
the  case  with  the  living  animal,  the  body  and  all  the 
limbs  being  exceedingly  attenuated,  notwithstanding  that 
it  possesses  much  of  the  agility  and  elasticity  of  move- 
ment which  characterize  other  quadrupeds  of  the  same 
size  and  mode  of  life.  While  we  cannot  pretend  to  deter- 
mine, from  absolute  knowledge  of  the  osseous  structure 
of  the  Oran-outang,  the  actual  extent  of  its  similarity  to 
that  of  the  human  frame,  we  know  that  the  animal  as  a 
whole  is  altogether  different ;  that,  as  compared  with  the 
human  form,  it  presents  a  series  of  malformations  from 
its  toes  to  its  head  ;  that  many  of  its  organs  are  irregular 
and  misplaced  ;  and  that  while  it  is  suggestive  of  a  resem- 
blance to  man,  the  ideal  image  is  entirely  dissipated  by 
the  reality  which  a  personal  acquaintance  with  it  affords. 
All  its  instincts  are  low,  and  in  general  intelligence  it  is 
by  no  means  the  equal  of  the  dog,  the  fox,  the  elephant, 
or  the  horse.  The  Oran-outang  is  a  native  of  Africa,  but 
has  also  been  found  in  India.  It  is  a  ver^  rare  and  soli- 
tary animal,  and,  like  all  the  others  in  their  natural  state, 
shuns  mankind  as  much  as  possible.  The  Chimpanzee 
and  the  Barbary  ape  are  other  varieties  of  the  ape  tribe, 
but  they  differ  little  from  the  former,  except  that  their 
physical  features  have  still  less  correspondence  with  those 
of  man.  All  these  animals  are  clothed  with  long  irregu- 
lar hair,  and  the  fingers  or  toes  of  their  hind  feet  are  of 
the  same  length  and  equally  as  prehensile  as  those  in 
front.  In  the  Barbary  ape,  the  hind  feet  are  considerably 
longer  than  those  in  front,  and  are  very  thin  and  sinewy. 
The  face  of  the  Chimpanzee  is  broad,  with  protruding 
jaws  and  an  immense  mouth ;  that  of  the  Oran-outang  is 
somewhat  smaller,  but,  upon  the  whole,  less  regular. 
The  lips  of  all  these  animals  are  thin  and  flabby,  and  de* 


348  THE   SIXTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

void  of  that  fullness  and  incarnation  which  gives  expres- 
sion to  the  human  face.  This  arises,  in  part,  from  the 
fact  that  all  the  specimens  of  the  Quadrumana  have 
pouched  cheeks  to  a  greater  or  less  extent.  The  monkeys, 
especially,  conceal  large  stores  of  provisions  in  their  jaws, 
and  the  apes  do  so  to  a  limited  extent — hence  the  enor- 
mous protrusion  of  this  portion  of  their  face.  The  Bar- 
bary  ape,  unlike  tl\e  others,  is  furnished  with  immense 
ears,  and  with  the  single  exception  of  its  protruding  jaws, 
the  head  and  face  are  very  similar  to  the  bull-dog.  And 
although,  in  its  external  appearance,  it  bears  no  similarity 
whatever  to  man — no  more,  in  fact,  than  to  a  dog — yet 
we  are  assured  that  its  osteology  is  the  same,  or,  rather, 
that  it  has  the  same  number  of  bones,  joined  in  a  manner 
very  similar,  but  deviating  in  length,  in  local  form,  and 
in  general  conformation.  All  the  ape  tribe  appear  to  be 
natives  of  Africa,  though  specimens  of  the  Oran-outang 
have  been  found  in  India,  and  in  some  of  the  islands  of 
the  Indian  Ocean.  The  baboon  has  but  few  varieties, 
and  are  all  distinguished  from  the  apes  by  their  tails,  their 
long  hair,  and  their  more  repulsive  features.  The  ribbed- 
nose  baboon  has  a  series  of  ribs  arching  over  his  cheeks 
on  each  side  of  his  nose,  which  latter  organ,  like  that  of 
the  dog,  extends  on  a  line  with  the  mouth,  and  gives  these 
extremities  of  the  face  a  canine  appearance.  The  whole 
structure  of  his  head  is  frightful,  and  is  rendered  more  so 
by  the  varied  colors  of  the  nose  and  the  ribs — the  one 
being  a  bright  red,  and  the  other  a  light  blue.  The  pig- 
tailed  baboon  is  a  smaller  animal  than  the  other,  and  is 
provided  with  large  cheek  pouches,  like  all  the  genuine 
monkeys.  The  face,  ears,  and  posteriors  are  naked,  and, 
when  tamed,  it  evinces  a  fondness  for  tobacco,  snuff,  and 
mustard,  which  it  eats  without  apparent  inconvenience. 
In  this  respect,  it  comes  nearer  to  man  than  any  of  its 
species  !  These  animals,  unlike  the  apes,  usually  travel 


APES   AND    MONKEYS.  349 

in  companies,  and  their  thieving  and  libidinous  propen- 
sities constitute  the  prevailing  features  of  their  character. 
They  are  also  natives  of  Africa,  and  live  principally  on 
grains,  fruits,  and  succulent  herbs.  The  monkey  tribe  is 
very  numerous,  and  differs  from  the  apes  and  baboons  in 
being  furnished  with  very  long  tails,  which  are  useful  in 
allowing  their'  suspension  from  the  limbs  of  trees.  Cun- 
ning, trickery,  thieving,  and  capering  are  their  leading 
characteristics ;  and,  excepting  that  their  faces  are 
moulded  somewhat  after  the  human  type,  they  partake  of 
the  nature  and  features  of  squirrels.  The  Mico  is  much 
the  handsomest  specimen  of  the  tribe.  It  has  a  rather 
handsome  face,  with  a  red  flesh-color,  is  covered  with  a 
rich  coat  of  white  hair,  and  a  tail  nearly  twice  the  length 
of  its  body.  Its  habits  are  also  more  agreeable  than  most 
of  the  species.  It  is  found  in  large  numbers  in  South 
America,  particularly  in  Brazil.  The  green  monkeys  are 
found  in  Northern  Africa  and  India.  They  are  light  and 
fragile  in  form,  and,  like  the  mico,  have  tails  of  extraor- 
dinary length  ;  some  of  which  are  naked  and  others  clothed 
with  hair.  The  human  aspect  of  the  face  gradually  dis- 
appears in  this  group,  and  takes  the  form,  in  some  of 
them,  of  the  squirrel,  the  fox,  and  the  rat.  The  ring- 
tailed  monkey  has  the  head  of  a  fox,  the  body  of  a  cat, 
and  the  gait  of  the  kangaroo.  The  yellow  Macauco  ap- 
proaches the  opossum.  They  both  belong  to  Africa, 
although  found  in  numerous  other  localities,  and  are  re- 
markable for  their  playfulness.  The  remains  of  monkeys 
have  lately  been  found  in  the  upper  strata  of  the  Tertiary 
in  all  the  countries  where  they  now  live,  and  in  some 
where  they  have  long  since  become  extinct.  Those  found 
in  the  Tertiary  of  India  have  been  referred  to  a  species  of 
Semnopithecus,  and  indicate  animals  of  large  size.  Those 
discovered  in  the  South  of  France  are  smaller ;  while 
again,  those  of  South  America  point  to  species  more  than 


350  THE   SIXTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

twice  the  stature  of  those  now  living  there.  The  fossil 
remains  of  this  order  establish  the  interesting  fact  that, 
before  the  close  of  the  Tertiary  era,  four  leading  di- 
visions of  the  monkey  family  existed  ;  that  these  divisions 
were  as  distinctly  separable  by  structural  features  and 
general  habits  as  are  the  living  apes  from  the  monkeys  ; 
and  that,  moreover,  they  had  a  wider  geographical  distri- 
bution, and  existed  in  regions  of  country  where  the  cli- 
matical  changes  which  have  occurred  in  the  mean  time 
have  utterly  extinguished  the  ancient  species,  and  forbid 
the  residence  of  those  now  living  under  the  torrid  zone — 
hence  their  limitation  to  Africa  and  South  America,  and 
portions  of  Asia ;  and  their  invariable  exclusion  from  re- 
gions of  glacial  cold. 

The  last  order  of  the  mammalia  consists  of  man.  It 
was  toward  the  evening  of  this  great  geological  day — 
between  the  closing  of  the  post-Pliocene  and  the  fragrant 
and  peaceful  dawn  of  the  Present,  that  the  ne  plus  ultra 
of  the  creative  work  had  been  attained.  After  the  most 
elaborate  preparations  had  been  made  for  his  reception ; 
after  all  the  animals  had  contributed  their  share,  directly 
and  indirectly,  toward  the  attainment  of  that  harmonious 
equilibrium  in  nature  by  which  governmental  dominion 
was  to  be  forever  maintained  over  them ;  after  the  earth 
had  been  clothed  with  herbs,  and  fruits,  and  shady  groves, 
and  the  valleys  and  the  hills  strewn  with  blooming  flowers ; 
after  the  terrestrial  stage  had  been  furnished  with  "  new 
and  gorgeous  scenery,"  and  the  vast  over-arching  dome 
hung  with  brilliant  chandeliers,  the  light  of  which  dazzled 
with  the  varying  lustre  of  millions  of  celestial  Koh-i-noors ; 
— it  was  then  that  the  great  versatile  actor,  Man,  made 
his  first  appearance  on  the  stage,  and  entered  at  once  upon 
the  round  of  characters  which  usually  distinguish  his 
brief  and  arduous  engagement.  We  have  no  disposition  to 
Bpeak  of  him  in  the  spirit  of  levity ;  but  we  may  say  with 


MAN  APPEARS  ON  THE  STAGE  I  351 

a  sigh,  but  with  entire  truth,  that  the  characters  he 
assumes  upon  the  stage  of  life  are  often  but  indifferently 
performed.  His  most  lamentable  failure  is  in  the  rendi- 
tion of  the  sterling  character  of  an  honest,  upright,  God- 
fearing man  !  It  is  one  often  assumed,  but  alas !  how 
complete  and  overwhelming  are  the  failures  !  The  cant- 
ing hypocrite — the  selfish  miser — the  envious,  shallow- 
pated  pretender — the  unfeeling  destroyer — the  Aminidab 
Sleeks — the  arch-nosed  Shylocks — the  plausible,  slippery, 
crawling,  insidious  lagos — these  constitute  the  staple 
characters  of  life,  and  they  are  almost  everywhere  played 
off  before  indulgent  audiences.  But  to  go  back : 

The  order  of  Bimana,  which  embraces  all  the  varieties 
of  the  human  species,  was  the  last  and  the  greatest  work 
of  the  Creator.  This  fact  is  not  only  apparent  in  the 
statement  of  Moses,  but  it  is  rendered  perfectly  indispu- 
table by  the  revelations  of  geology.  As  to  the  exact  time 
of  man's  appearance,  there  is  room  for  a  little  doubt ;  I 
shall,  however,  endeavor  to  show  that  it  must  have  been 
toward  the  close  of  the  Tertiary,  in  which  his  fossil  re- 
mains have  been  sparingly  found.  Like  all  the  inferior 
animals,  the  species  of  mankind  comprise  a  large  number 
of  distinctive  varieties,  which  physiologists  arrange  under 
five  leading  groups  or  families,  viz.,  the  Caucasian,  the 
Mongolian,  the  Malayan,  the  Negro,  and  the  American 
Indian.  Each  of  these  principal  divisions  comprises  a 
large  number  of  sub-groups,  nearly  all  of  them  speaking 
different  languages,  and  characterized  by  local  habits  and 
mental  idiosyncrasies  as  diverse  as  could  well  be  conceived. 
Emigration,  intermarriage,  and  commercial  and  social 
intercourse  between  individuals,  tribes,  and  nations,  have 
constantly  tended  to  increase  the  lines  of  separation  and 
the  complexity  of  type,  or  to  gradually  fuse  old  into  new 
ones.  From  the  earliest  history  of  mankind,  however 
they  all  appear  to  resolve  themselves  into  five  principal 
23 


352  THE  SIXTH  DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

families,  and  still  more  remotely  into  three.  Thus,  the 
Caucasian  is  everywhere  distinguished  from  the  others  by 
his  white  skin,  his  tall  stature,  and  the  general  pro- 
portion, harmony,  grace,  and  beauty  of  his  person,  while 
his  moral  and  intellectual  faculties  are  also  better 
developed,  and  appear  to  be  of  an  infinitely  finer  tempera- 
ment than  those  of  all  the  others.  His  nose  is  straight  or 
aquiline,  his  face  and  ears  small,  the  forehead  broad,  and 
the  complexion  roseate,  and  expressive  of  thought.  His 
face  often  sustains  a  beard  on  a  line  with  the  cheek  bone 
— a  feature,  which,  though  not  invariable,  is  yet  peculiar  to 
none  of  the  others.  While  it  is  far  from  being  the  most 
numerous,  the  Caucasian  race  may  be  regarded  as  the 
governor  of  mankind,  and  as  the  head  of  all  animated 
'  nature,  because  it  has  attained  a  higher  degree  of  civiliza- 
tion, refinement,  power,  and  mental  culture.  It  includes 
most  of  the  inhabitants  of  Western  Asia,  the  Tartars,  the 
Caucasians,  Georgians,  Armenians,  and  Circassians ;  the 
Turks,  Persians,  Arabians,  Affghans,  Egyptians,  and 
Abyssinians,  and  with  the  exception  of  the  Finlanders,  it 
embraces  all  the  Europeans,  and  their  American,  descend- 
ants. The  nobility  of  England  may  be  regarded  as  its 
highest  type,  both  in  physical  and  mental  develop- 
ment. 

The  Ethiopian,  or  Negro,  though  a  native  of  all  parts 
of  Africa,  is  yet  distinct  from  certain  tribes  inhabiting 
the  northern  and  central  portions,  some  of  which, 
according  to  recent  discoveries,  appear  to  have  attained 
a  considerable  degree  of  civilization,  and  are  no  less 
remarkable  for  the  purity  of  their  complexions,  and 
the  European  aspect  of  their  features.  The  Negro  is  the 
very  converse  of  the  Caucassian — his  skin  being  perfectly 
black,  and  his  hair  and  eyes  generally  of  the  same  color. 
But  his  hair,  instead  of  being  long,  straight,  or  curling  into 
ringlets,  is  woolly  and  knotted.  His  nose  is  broad  and 


RACES   OF    MAN.  *  353 

flat,  his  lips  thick  and  protruding,  and  his  forehead  low. 
There  are  many  minor  features  by  which  he  is  everywhere 
distinguishable  ;  but  there  is  one  which,  though  I  have 
never  seen  it  mentioned  by  physiologists  (except  by  Mr. 
Jefferson,  in  his  Notes  on  Virginia),  appears  to  be  universal 
even  with  mulattos  and  half-breeds.  The  skin  of  the 
Negro  secretes  a  perspiration  which  emits  a  peculiar  and 
unpleasant  musky  odor,  somewhat  in  the  manner  of  those 
animals  of  the  family  Mustela  vulgaris  already  described. 

The  Malayans  are  natives  of  the  numerous  islands  of 
the  South  Sea,  as  New  Zealand,  New  Guinea,  New  Hol- 
land, and  the  Malayan  Archipelago.  Their  skin  has  a 
dark  brown  color,  hair  long  and  black,  nose  full  and 
broad,  mouth  and  face  long,  large,  and  prominent.  They 
can  very  easily  be  traced  back  to  the  Ethiopian  type. 

The  Mongolian  race  is  well  represented  by  the  Chinese, 
the  Japanese,  the  Mongols,  and  other  Asiatic  tribes,  to- 
gether with  those  of  Tonquin,  Siam,  and  Thibet,  and  the 
Laplander  and  the  Esquimaux.  Their  color  is  that  of 
yellow  or  olive.  They  have  but  little  beard,  generally 
none  at  all ;  low  forehead,  broad  face,  rather  flat  nose, 
large  ears,  thick  lips,  projecting  round  cheeks,  black  hair 
and  eyes,  and  stature  inferior  to  the  Caucasian. 

The  American  Indians  present  several  groups,  but  they 
all  resemble  the  Mongolian  race  so  closely,  especially  in 
the  structure  of  their  heads,  that  they  may  properly  be 
regarded  as  primitive  off-shoots  from  it.  Their  color  varies 
from  a  dark  red  to  an  olive — as  a  whole,  they  may  be 
termed  copperish,  with  an  infusion  of  yellow  sufficient  to 
identify  them  with  the  Mongolian.  Their  hair  is  also 
black,  long,  and  coarse,  but  they  are  destitute  of  beard. 
Their  leading  characteristics  are  essentially  Mongolian, 
while  their  individual  features  sometimes  approach  the 
Caucasian.  As  a  race,  they  are  tall,  straight,  and  grace- 
ful, and  in  natural  sprightliness  of  intellect,  dignity  of  car- 


354*  THE   SIXTH   DAY — GEOLOGICAL. 

riage,   and   eloquence   of  speech,  are   hardly  inferior  to 
any. 

After  the  creation  of  man,  toward  the  close  of  the 
Sixth  Day,  the  world  seems,  for  the  first  time,  to  have 
been  lulled  into  a  serene  and  calm  repose.  Creative  action 
had  attained  the  ultimatum  in  man.  All  the  previous 
work  ended  and  blended  harmoniously  in  him,  as  the  days 
themselves  blended  into  the  great  Sabbath  of  Nature 
which  ensued.  All  the  angels  of  heaven  participated 
with  God  in  the  joyful  work  of  creation.  Even  the  little 
children-angels,  that  play  around  the  opal-throne  of  the 
Creator,  seem  to  have  contributed  their  little  works  in  the 
annelids,  insects,  and  flowers  that  peep  out  from  their 
secret  retreats  in  the  earth  ;  while  God  himself  was  mainly 
engrossed  in  infusing  the  coup  de  grace  to  tne  whole — in 
concentrating  and  embodying  all  the  animal  functions, 
under  the  sceptre  of  Reason,  in  the  brain  and  body  of 
man  1  How  wonderfully  and  fearfully  he  is  made  !  What 
an  infinite  number  of  delicate  vessels  traverse  his  frame  ! 
How  nicely  all  his  bones  fit  into  their  varied  and  compli- 
cated sockets  1  How  gracefully  and  elastically  his  limbs 
bend  and  move  under  the  guiding  tendons, jmiscles,  and 
fibres  with  which  they  are  padded  !  How  God-like  is  his 
Mind!  Composed  of  a  variety  of  organs,  hitched  to  the 
car  of  Thought,  Reason  holds  the  reins,  and  drives  the 
body  through  the  earth — sometimes  over  rough  and  dan- 
gerous roads,  sometimes  in  happy  thoroughfares  and  along 
broad  avenues,  strewn  with  flowers  and  sweetened  per- 
fumes !  Man  is  the  Governor — the  Monarch  of  Creation  ! 
In  him  all  things  earthy  end — in  him  all  things  return 
back  to  God  !  After  his  creation,  therefore,  God  ceased 
from  his  work.  Day  after  day,  each  filled  with  its  appro- 
priate work,  passed  in  succession  ;  but  the  Seventh  day, 
instead  of  being  ended,  is  only  begun.  Moses  does  not 
speak  of  the  Sabbath  as  having  any  end,  so  far  as  man  is 


MARRIAGE   OF   AEAM*  AND   EVE.  555 

concerned,  it  is  an  eternity,  during  which  God  will  rest 
from  his  creative  labor  1  Upon  the  close  of  the  Sixth 
Day,  after  a  terrestrial  equilibrium — a  systematic  organi- 
zation of  all  the  types,  creatures,  and  circumstances  of 
created  life  had  been  secured,  the  whole  was  placed  under, 
the  dominion  of  man.  It  was  expressly  consigned  to  his 
custody.  He  became  the  god  of  earth — the  recognized 
agent  of  the  Almighty,  to  take  care  of  the  creatures  and 
the  varied  works  he  and  his  angels  had  made  ! 

Man's  creation  was  the  preliminary  step  to  the  Sab- 
batical repose  which  ensued.  When  the  sky  began  to 
gleam  in  vast  lakes  of  liquid  azure,  and  bold  promontories 
of  fleecy  drapery — when  the  mountains  rejoiced  in  spread- 
^ing  foliage,  and  hid  their  hoary  peaks  in  the  clouds,  to 
conduct  angels  to  the  paradise  belo#  •  after  the  sloping 
plains  had  rolled  out  their  carpets  of  velvet,  and  crystal 
streams  glistened  in  the  sun,  or  leaped  in  cascades,  or 
waltzed  around  in  eddies  and  gurgling  pools  to  the  soft 
cadences  of  the  musical  air; — in  a  broad  vale,  fringed 
with  thymy  terraces,  and  boquetted  with  flowers  and  blos- 
soming orchards,  whose  fragrance  infused  ethereal  intoxica- 
tion ; — in  a  garden,  by  nature  formed  to  please,  laden 
with  fruits,  and  vines,  and  gums,  and  juices  nectarial — 
amid  the  joyous  songs  of  birds,  and  the  approving  throbs 
of  animated  life  ;  surrounded  with  the  winged  ministers  of 
the  planetary  universe,  and  the  angelic  hosts  of  the  court 
of  Jehovah — there,  as  the  last  and  crowning  act  of  crea- 
tion, God  "  formed  man  in  his  own  image,  male  and  female 
created  he  them;"  and  breathing  into  his  nostrils  the 
breath  of  life,  he  became  a  living  and  an  immortal  soul. 
Adam  and  Eve,  thus  created  and  united  in  wedlock,  be- 
came flesh  of  one  flesh,  and  bone  of  one  bone.  In  the 
presence  of  the  angelic  throngs  of  heaven — with  the  ap- 
proving smiles  of  all  the  representatives  of  the  ethereal 
worlds— the  powers  of  space,  of  Eternity  and  Immortality 


356  THE   SIXTH   DAY— GEOLOGICAL. 

— the  nuptials  of  man's  progenitors  were  solemnized,  and 
as  their  endowment,  God  consigned  to  Adam  the  sole 
custody  of  the  great  work  thus  completed  ;  crowning  him 
with  unrestricted  dominion  over  the  boundless  earth — the 
fishes  of  the  sea,  the  varied  creatures  of  the  land  and  air ! 
He  then  blessed  and  sanctified  the  Sabbath  that  ensued ; 
and  now,  the  joyous  train  showering  their  gratulations  on 
the  wedded  pair, 

The  heavens,  and  all  the  constellations  rang  ! 
The  planets,  in  their  places,  list'ning  stood, 
While  the  bright  pomp  ascended,  jubilant! 
Open  !  ye  everlasting  gates  !  they  sung; 
Open  !  ye  heavens  !  your  living  doors — let  iu 
The  great  Creator  from  his  work  returned, 
Magnificent !     His  six  days'  work  a  World ! 
Open !  and  henceforth  oft,  for  God  will  deign 
To  visit  oft  the  dwellings  of  just  men 
Delighted !  and  with  frequent  intercourse 
Thither  will  send  his  winged  messengers 
On  errands  of  supernal  grace ! 


THE  SEVENTH  DAY— THE  SABBATH.- 

1  Thus  the  heavens  and  the  earth  were  finished,  and  all  the  host  of 
them.  2  Aad  on  the  seventh  day  God  ended  bis  work  which  he  had 
made ;  and  he  rested  on  the  seventh  day  from  all  his  work  which  he  had 
made.  3  And  God  blessed  the  seventh  day,  and  sanctified  it,  because 
that  in  it  he  had  rested  from  all  his  work  which  God  created  and  made. 
4.  These  are  the  generations  of  the  heavens  and  of  the  earth,  when  they 
were  created,  in  the  day  that  the  Lord  God  made  the  earth  and  the 
heavens.  5  And  every  plant  of  the  field  before  it  was  in  the  earth,  and 
every  herb  of  the  field  before  it  grew;  for  the  Lord  God  had  not  caused  it 
to  rain  upon  the  earth,  and  there  was  not  a  man  to  till  the  ground.  6 
But  there  went  up  a  mist  from  the  earth,  and  watered  the  whole  face  of 
the  ground.  7  And  the  Lord  God  formed  man  of  the  dust  of  the  ground, 
and  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life,  and  man  became  a  living 
soul. 

I  REMARKED  at  the  outset  of  the  present  work,  that  I 
had  no  desire  to  enter  the  field  of  theological  speculation. 
Indeed,  it  was  a  part  of  my  original  plan  expressly  to 
avoid  it,  except  only  in  those  cases  where  there  seemed 
to  be  a  direct  conflict  between  the  Bible  and  Geology. 
In  these  conflicts,  I  have  ventured  to  explain  the  geology, 
rather  than  the  theology  of  the  dispute.  I  have,  in  fact, 
not  written  as  a  theologian  at  all — I  have  not  even  con- 
fined myself  within  the  sectarian  discipline  of  the  church, 
I  have  simply  taken  up  the  Cosmogony  of  the  Bible,  as 
an  humble  but  original  and  independent  investigator  of 
nature,  and  endeavored  to  sustain  its  integrity  against  the 
insidious  assaults  of  the  most  distinguished  geologists 
This  work,  I  am  well  aware,  could  have  been  better  per 
formed,  so  far  as  the  Church  itself  is  concerned,  by  some 

(357) 


358        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

one  more  closely  identified  with  its  tenets  and  policy  tkan 
myself.  But  while  the  field  of  theology  is  comparatively 
well  filled  with  expounders  of  every  degree  of  merit  and 
intelligence,  it  will  be  conceded  that  but  few  of  them  have 
devoted  attention  to  the  department  of  practical  geology. 
Instead  of  dedicating  a  portion  of  their  time  and  energies 
to  a  proper  investigation  of  the  field,  so  as  to  protect  the 
Church  from  its  assaults,  many  preachers  have  really 
diverted  their  pulpits  from  their  more  legitimate  duties, 
to  the  promulgation  of  what  may  be  termed  "  sensational" 
sermons,  or  have  partially  abandoned  them  in  favor  of  the 
lecture-room  and  the  political  arena,  for  the  poor  and 
questionable  compensation  of  popular  applause  and 
notoriety.  The  pulpit,  thus  neglected  and  weakened,  has 
been  left  unprotected  from  the  attacks  of  pernicious 
geological  theories  and  speculations ;  and  the  result  is, 
that  we  now  see  its  authorized  guardians  and  defenders 
driven  to  miserable  special  pleading,  or  compelled,  in  many 
cases,  to  abandon  the  explicit  statements  of  the  Bible  in 
favor  of  mere  subterfuges  and  unmanly  evasions  and 
apologies. 

Notwithstanding  the  enthusiasm — not  to  say  fanatical 
zeal,  which  a  large  number  of  ministers  evince  in  the 
abstract  political  questions  of  the  day,  the  great  majority, 
no  doubt,  deserve  respect  for  good  intentions,  at  least. 
There  is  no  character  on  this  broad  earth  more  entitled  to 
our  kindly  sympathies,  our  warm  regard  and  admiration, 
than  the  conscientious,  open-hearted,  and  devoted  minister 
of  the  gospel.  Their  social  influence  is,  and  ought  to  be, 
unlimited,  because  they  are  necessary  to  the  preservation 
of  society,  government,  and  civilization.  When,  therefore, 
we  see  men  compromising  their  high  position  as  ministers 
of  the  gospel — neglecting  its  immediate  and  legitimate 
objects,  or  prostituting  them  in  the  strife  and  angry 
tumult  of  partisan  politics,  the  cause  of  religion  is  not 


PULPITS   ABANDONED   FOR   THE    STUMP.  359 

only  weakened,  but  the  Church  itself  suffers  degradation. 
Diversity  of  opinion  upon  doctrinal  points  may  safely  be 
tolerated,  and  is  perhaps  unavoidable  ;  but  a  diversion  of 
the  obvious  functions  of  their  office  from  its  high  social, 
moral  and  spiritual,  to  a  sectional  and  political  purpose, 
can  only  lead  to  the  embitterment  of  popular  prejudices, 
to  the  disruption  of  society  and  of  governments,  and  to  the 
ultimate  extinction  of  religion  itself. 

But  the  very  fact,  paradoxical  as  it  may  seem,  that 
scarcely  any  two  ministers  can  agree  upon  all  the  doc- 
.trinal  points  of  the  Bible,  is  a  powerful  argument  in  favor 
of  its  divine  authenticity.  Like  all  the  works  of  God,  it 
is  sometimes  difficult  to  understand.  But  all  that  which 
we  see  around,  above,  and  beneath  us,  although  quite 
familiar  to  our  senses,  is  yet  only  one  great,  stupendous, 
unfathomable  mystery.  We  ourselves  are  no  less  so. 
And  yet  we  see  in  the  daily  operations  of  nature,  things 
that  we  know  to  be  fixed  and  certain  ;  and  from  things 
thus  known,  we  can  easily  pursue  those  that  are  unknown, 
or  involved  in  obscurity.  We  can  thus  trace  God  through 
all  his  works.  And  it  is  precisely  so  with  the  Bible. 
The  great  bulk  of  it,  although  mysterious,  we  know  to  be 
true  and  fixed,  because  self-evident  to  our  senses — and  by 
the  faith  we  thus  have  in  the  known,  we  are  justified  in 
our  inferences  of  the  unknown.  Geology  proves,  for 
example,  that  there  was  a  beginning; — that  there  was  a 
time  when  man  did  not  exist ; — that  there  was  a  time 
when  animals  and  vegetation  did  not  exist ; — that  there 
was  a  time  when  the  earth  itself  could  not  have  existed. 
Now,  knowing  this,  we  must  infer  that  a  cause  produced 
the  effects  which  we  see  and  feel — that  the  operating 
cause  must  be  one  of  superior  intelligence,  and  that  origi- 
nally it  must  necessarily  have  been  in  close  communion 
with  the  creatures  of  its  volition.  Hence,  we  cannot  but 
believe  that  man,  in  the  beginning,  was  in  friendly  inter- 


360        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

course  with  his  Maker — that  he  received  from  him  tlie 
means  whereby  to  sustain  and  develop  his  nature,  and 
the  admonitions  and  advice  by  which  happiness,  love,  and 
peace  would  be  forever  secured. 

God  is  said  to  unite  three  persons  in  one — as  the  Father, 
the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost.  This  combination  of  per., 
sonality  is  incomprehensible  to  us,  but  not  incredible. 
As  Father,  he  is  the  undoubted  Creator  of  all  things — the 
personification  of  worlds,  of  matter,  elements,  and  force. 
We  may  recognize  in  him  the  imponderable  and  inde- 
structible elements — carbon,  oxygen,  hydrogen,  electricity, 
light,  gravitation.  These  are  omnipresent  in  space  and 
matter.  Besides  these,  there  are  sixty- two  simple  min- 
erals that  cannot  be  destroyed  or  changed  from  one  to 
another,  as  gold,  iron,  mercury,  etc.  The  elements  may 
be  presumed  to  constitute  the  instruments  of  creative 
action,  order,  and  law,  because  all  matter  and  life  are  sub- 
ject to  their  control.  Some  of  these  elements  and  min- 
erals may  have  affinities  in  other  worlds,  or  in  space,  and 
the  whole  may  have  originally  formed  a  unit,  or  one. 
This  primary  unit,  existing  in  unimaginable  chaos,  evolved 
a  governing  principle — a  principle  inheriting  all  the 
properties  of  elements,  as  subsequently  diffused  in  worlds 
and  life.  Now,  this  vital  principle  was  and  is  none  other 
than  God.  It  may  be  said  that  God  himself  was  thus 
created.  No  :  he  primarily  existed ;  he  now  began  to 
create.  His  will  was  manifested  by  diffusion — irradia- 
tion. The  elements  incorporate  in  him  were  invisible 
creatures,  like  the  ideal  visions  of  man's  dreams,  but 
capable  of  assuming  fixed  forms  in  matter.  God  is  thus 
the  source  from  which  all  things  flow. 

But  this  personality  of  Creator  is  distinct  from  that  of 
Son,  in  which  he  also  became,  by  his  irradiated  elements  in 
worlds,  the  governor  of  all  things.  That  is  to  say,  having 
created,  he  now  also  governed  by  Law,  which  Law  may 


THE  FATHER,  SON,  AND  HOLY  GHOST.       361 

be  regarded  as  the  embodied  Son  or  offspring.  He  is  thus 
Father  and  Son  ;  or  the  source  iP  elemental  matter,  and 
the  diffused  law  that  controls  created  elemental  matter. 
As  Holy  Ghost,  he  further  exists  in  man  in  the  form  of 
mind,  or  as  the  subtle  spiritual  principle.  As  Father,  he 
creates  ;  as  Son,  he  is  law  ;  as  Holy  Ghost,  he  is  the  im- 
pulse to  guide  the  creatures  of  law.  God  said,  "  Let  us 
now  make  man  in  our  own  image — after  our  likeness;" 
that  is,  let  us  endow  man  with  some  of  our  qualities.  He 
was  accordingly  created  to  govern  the  world,  and  was 
therefore  supplied  with  mind,  a  function  of  the  Creator. 
Man,  therefore,  comprises  two  persons  in  one — a  mental 
and  a  physical  being.  His  spiritual  part  is  immortal,  and 
exhibits  the  governing  principle  under  the  guidance  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  Being  the  creature  of  Law,  man  can 
neither  modify  nor  evade  it.  God,  therefore,  combines 
the  attributes  of  three  distinct  personalities — Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Ghost.* 

Even  before  the  creation  of  worlds,  God  was  surrounded 
by  angels  or  spirits  representing  the  different  irradiated 
offsprings  of  his  Yolition.  When  he  began  to  create 
worlds,  and  to  confer  authority  on  his  Son  (embodying 
Law),  certain  of  these  angels  rebelled,  and  because  they 
sought  to  subvert  Law,  or  harmony,  or  order,  they  were 
expelled  into  the  regions  of  unreclaimed  darkness.  The 
chief  of  these  was  Satan.  Under  every  form  of  dis- 
guise, he  has  since  sought  to  subvert  the  Son  in  his  ad- 
ministration of  law.  Although  forever  expatriated  from 
heaven,  he  still  preserves  his  immortality,  with  which  he 
was  clothed  in  the  beginning,  and  which  is  consequently 
irrevocable,  since  God,  having  finished  his  work  of  crea- 
tion, now  only  governs  by  law,  and  has  transferred  the 


*  These  are  but  ideal  speculations,  and  will  of  course  be  so  regarded 
by  the  reader.— E.  B. 


302  THE    SEVENTH   DAY — THE    SABBATH. 

custody  of  the  earth  to  his  embodied  Son.  Satan,  there- 
fore, is  a  rebel  against  t^Son  of  God  ;  and  having  known 
the  original  decrees  of  heaven,  and  that  the  earth  formed 
a  portion  of  the  plan  of  the  Universe,  he  undertook  its 
subjugation.  Such  was  his  subtilty,  that  he  not  only 
deceived  man  (a  creature  of  law),  but  also  Ike  angels 
guarding  the  gates  of  Paradise.  Effecting  an  entrance 
into  Eden,  the  beauty  of  the  garden  recalled  visions  of  that 
ethereal  paradise  which  he  had  forever  lost.  He  traversed 
its  broad  and  sinuous  avenues,  paved  with  sands  of  gold 
"unnumbered  as  the  dust  of  Barca,  or  Gyrene's  torrid 
soil."  With  stealthy  eye,  he  traced  its  grotesque  walls 
of  alabaster,  sinking  into  dim  perspective.  He  stole  into 
its  secret  grottos,  walled  with  crystal  amethyst,  and 
ribbed  arches  of  gnarled  topaz.  He  contemplated  its 
diked  porphyry,  rising  upon  the  level  plateaux  in  monu- 
mental piles  to  the  glory  of  the  Creator,  glittering  with 
intermingled  clusters  of  massive  diamonds,  opals,  and 
sapphires,  like  the  stellar  diadem  of  Night.  Trees  bowed 
low  with  the  offering  of  their  luscious  fruit ;  and  the  vine 
clung  to  the  spreading  oaks,  tempting  with  her  pulpy 
nectar.  Leaping  cascades,  gushing  fountains,  expanding 
lakelets  diffused  their  refreshing  draughts  to  the  thirsty 
sun ;  while  liberal  Flora,  from  exhaustless  stores,  fed  the 
fragrance-seeking  breezes  to  balmy  repletion.  In  the 
deep  recesses  of  the  wood,  surrounded  by  their  brooding 
mates  and  their  unfledged  young,  myriads  of  plum  aged 
warblers  prolonged  their  happy  strains,  and  bore  higher 
and  higher  the  universal  anthems  which  animated  Nature 
sent  up,  in  harmonious  accord,  to  the  throne  of  the  divine 
Creator. 

Thus  stealthily  stalked  the  angel  of  Evil  from  one  object 
and  scene  to  another,  until  all  their  varied  features  had  been 
duly  scanned ;  while  he  secretly  gloated  over  the  impend- 
ing gloom  (decreed  in  the  bituminous  caverns  of  hell), 


EVE   TEMPTED   BY   SIN.  363 

which  his  machinations  were  now  suspending  over  the 
young  earth,  like  the  web  of  a  spider.  Anon,  he  espied 
the  secret  bower,  sacred  to  love  and  wedded  bliss.  On 
an  elevated  step,  overlooking  the  glories  of  the  paradise 
which  stretched  out  in  profuse  luxuriance  beneath,  a 
Parian  nook  opened  its  chaste  portals  to  the  nuptial  feast. 
From  the  top,  clusters  of  amaranth  diffused  immortality 
upon  the  rosy  couch ;  while  dahlias,  geraniums,  helio- 
tropes, myrtles,  and  olives,  sacred  to  eternal  love,  devo- 
tion, holiness,  and  peace,  twined  their  tendrils  and  their 
new-blown  buds  in  long-drawn  aisles  and  foliaged  arches, 
to  screen  them  from  the  peering  sun.  There,  on  sheets 
of  silken  down,  newly  hackled  from  gossamer  cocoons, 
the  progenitors  of  mankind  resigned  themselves  to  rest, 
locked  in  the  arms  of  holy  love  ; 

"  The  loveliest  pair 
That  e'er  in  love's  embraces  met; 
Adam,  the  ^oo<ilie?t  man  of  men,  since  born 
His  sons;  the  fairest  of  her  daughters  Eve." 

In  the  very  citadel  of  earthly  bliss  the  tempter  had 
already  entered,  in  a  dark  disguise.  Drawing  near  to  the 
pillow  of  Eve,  he  deduced  from  their  whispered  speech 
that  the  tree  of  life  was  to  them  forbidden  fruit ;  and  he 
infused  the  spirit  of  unrest  in  her  dreams.  He  obtained  a 
clew — the  artful  spider  here  found  a  beam  from  which  to 
stretch  his  subtle  web ;  and  now  the  angels  of  Sin  sent  up 
a  shout,  in  anticipated  triumph,  that  echoed  through  the 
parched  and  blistered  gloom  of  their  infernal  caverns.  He 
left  the  sleepers  ere  Uriel's  sunbeams  had  arrived,  and 
again  transforming  himself  into  a  new  shape,  wandered 
among  the  cattle  of  the  fields  ; 

"  For  spirit.?,  when  they  please, 
Can  either  sex  assume,  or  both ;  so  soft 
And  uncompounded  is  their  essence  puro; 


364        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

Not  tied  or  manacled  with  joint  or  limb, 

Nor  founded  on  the  brittle  strength  of  bones, 

Like  cumbrous  flesh ;  but  in  what  shape  they  choose, 

Dilated  or  condensed,  bright  or  obscure, 

Can  execute  their  airy  purposes, 

And  works  of  love  or  enmity  fulfill." 


In  his  present  purpose,  however,  he  assumed  the  body 
of  the  serpent,  which  he  knew  to  possess  "more  subtil  ty 
than  any  beast  of  the  field."  In  this  guise,  he  approached 
Eve,  while  she  was  alone,  and  engaged  in  training  the 
flowers  of  Paradise.  Struck  with  the  beauty,  and  the 
extraordinary  faculty  of  speech  and  intelligence  which  the 
serpent  possessed,  Eve  unfortunately  became  interested 
in  its  discourse.  Inquiring  whence  it  had  obtained  such 
varied  accomplishments  and  wisdom,  it  replied  that  they 
flowed  from  a  certain  tree  in  the  garden,  the  fruit  of  which 
it  had  freely  eaten  !  The  innocent  curiosity  of  the  mother 
of  her  race  was  at  once  aroused,  and  following  the  ser- 
pent to  the  spot,  discovered  that  the  tree  in  question  was 
the  forbidden  tree  of  life.  The  serpent,  with  the  freedom 
of  levity,  and  with  an  air  of  affected  sympathy  and  in- 
credulity, inquired,  "  Yea,  hath  God  said,  Ye  shall  not 
eat  of  every  tree  of  the  garden  ?"  To  which  poor  Eve 
replied,  half  ashamed  that  she  should  be  inferior  to  the 
serpent  in  the  gratification  of  her  tastes ;  "  We  may  eat 
of  the  fruit  of  the  trees  of  the  garden  ;  but  of  the  fruit  of 
the  tree  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  garden,  God  hath 
said,  Ye  shall  not  eat  of  it,  neither  shall  ye  touch  it,  lest 
ye  die."  To  this  the  subtle  villain  again,  with  mock  pity 
and  commiseration,  and  with  a  half-suppressed  smile  at 
her  innocent  naivete,  replied,  "  Ye  shall  not  surely  die ; 
for  God  doth  know  that  in  the  day  ye  eat  thereof,  then 
your  eyes  shall  be  opened ;  and  ye  shall  be  as  gods, 
knowing  good  from  evil."  This  certainly  looked  plausible, 
and  the  experience  of  the  serpent  seemed  to  coLfirm  it ; 


THE   FALL   OF  ADAM.  365 

for  if  it  could  eat  with  impunity,  and  inherit  wisdom, -and 
live,  why  should  not  Eve  ?     Alas  ! 

"Neither  man  nor  angel  can  discern 
Hypocrisy,  the  only  evil  that  walks 
Invisible,  except  to  God  alone, 
By  his  permissive  will,  through  heaven  and  earth  ; 
And  oft,  though  wisdom  wake,  suspicion  sleeps 
At  wisdom's  gate,  and  to  simplicity 
Eesigns  her  charge,  while  goodness  thinks  no  ill 
Where  no  ill  seems  !" 

The  woman  fell,  and  brought  down  her  husband  with 
her  ;  for  when  Adam  perceived  that  she  had  violated  the 
direct  and  express  command  of  God,  he  was  confounded 
with  conflicting  emotions — love  for  the  lost  woman,  whose 
crime  might  perhaps  be  palliated  by  his  own  participation, 
or  his  happiness  jeopardized  in  her  death  ;  fear  of  the  just 
retribution  of  God,  and  yet  a  longing  desire  for  the 
wisdom  which  the  fruit  could  impart ;  credulity  in  the 
experience  of  the  serpent,  because  manifest  to  all  the 
senses,  and  yet  a  lurking  suspicion  of  its  honor  and  integ- 
rity— all  these  struggled  in  the  excited  mind  of  Adam, 
and  he  grasped  the  forbidden  fruit  as  with  uncontrollable 
desperation.  They  ate  !  For  a  time  the  effect  was  ex- 
hilarating, like  the  juice  of  the  grape.  Their  carnal 
natures  were  inflamed — they  burned  with  voluptuous 
desire — their  veins  swelled,  and  their  cheeks  flushed,  and 
staggering,  they  fell  to  the  ground  !  They  slept,  but  it 
was  now  the  sleep  of  remorse  and  exhausted  nature, 
instead  of  innocence  and  peace.  They  awoke — not  to 
the  smiles  of  hope,  and  virtue,  and  harmony;  'but  to 
mutual  shame,  recriminations,  bickerings,  distrust,  and 
reproach.  In  short,  all  the  dark  and  damning  passions  of 
sin — disobedience,  lust,  falsehood,  jealousy,  revenge,  and 
all  their  horrid  train,  marshaled  by  Sickness,  Disease,  and 
Death ; — all  the  polluted  spirits  of  the  infernal  regions 


366        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

arose  from  the  earth  like  spectres,  and  became  installed  in 
the  world — raising  their  arms  against  law  and  harmony — 
against  peace  and  good-will — against  virtue  and  love — 
and  asserted  dominion  over  Adam  and  his  captive  race  ! 

Why,  it  may  be  asked,  did  not  God  place  them  beyond 
the  power  of  -  disobedience  ?  Why  involve  them  in  a 
position  in  which  they  would  be  exposed  to  the  assaults 
of  sin  ?  To  this  it  may  be  suggested  that  it  was  not  the 
plan  of  the  Creator  to  people  worlds  with  absolute  Gods. 
He  had  a  purpose  to  subserve,  decreed  in  the  beginning. 
Man  was  his  servant,  owing  to  his  law  implicit  obedience, 
but  endowed  with  reason  to  obey  or  not.  He  was  pro- 
vided with  every  earthly  comfort — he  was  warned  of  his 
danger — and  thus  Mi  free  to  act !  Had  he  been  endowed 
with  higher  qualities,  heaven  would  have  been  his  proper 
sphere  at  once,  not  earth  ;  but  made  as  a  servant  of  God, 
his  subsequent  promotion  depended  on  his  implicit  obedi- 
ence to  law. 

Now,  after  Adam's  transgression,  God  placed  enmity 
between  the  seed  of  the  serpent  and  that  of  Eve,  and 
doomed  Satan  to  crawl  upon  the  earth  in  the  character  or 
form  he  had  thus  assumed.  The  serpent,  therefore,  is  the 
personification  of  evil— -first :  because  when  coiled,  it  is 
emblematic  of  eternity,  or  the  original  immortality  of 
angels  ;  second :  when  wounded  or  dismembered  in  its  ex- 
terior parts,  it  has  the  power  of  renewing  the  lost  flesh ; 
third:  it  changes  its  skin  during  the  vernal  season,  thus 
renewing  its  youth  with  increasing  age ;  fourth :  its 
poisonous  secretions,  and  needle-like  fangs,  are  often  fatal 
to  man,  and  significant  of  his  original  fall ;  and  fifth :  its 
movement  is  stealthy,  noiseless,  and  slimy,  eluding  grasp, 
and  readily  accommodating  its  body  to  th*  most  contracted 
retreats — all  of  which  are  significant  parallels  of  those 
subtle  spirits  which  haunt,  annoy,  and  destroy  the  pence 
and  happiness  of  mankind.  Besides  all  this,  there  is  an 


ADAM'S  PUNISHMENT.  3^ 

inherent  dread  of  serpents  in  the  human  species,  notwith- 
standing that  it  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful,  graceful,  and 
agile  animals  that  God  has  created.  Its  very  appearance 
occasions  an  irresistible  nervous  tremor — a  secret  shudder, 
which  it  is  impossible  to  control.  We  thus  perceive  that 
the  enmity  between  the  two  races,  is  universal  and 
palpable ;  but  this  is  not  all.  Man  has  the  power  of 
bruising  its  head — its  vital  and  only  dangerous  part.  He, 
therefore  has  the  power  of  destroying  evil — while  in  re- 
turn, the  serpent  only  bruises  man's  heel,  or  his  fleshly 
part,  thus  indicating  that  no  part  of  man  is  liable  to  its 
attacks  if  he  treads  not  in  the  paths  of  evil,  where  only  the 
serpent  is  concealed.  It  is  a  singular  and  extraordinary 
fact,  that  what  seem  to  be  the  most  simple  and  common- 
place expressions  in  the  Bible,  are  in  truth  invariably 
pregnant  with  volumes  of  meaning,  all  of  which  are  de- 
veloped upon  the  most  casual  investigation  of  the  funda- 
mental laws  of  nature.  It  isthese,  among  thousands  of 
other  coincident  features,  that  establish  its  divine  inspira- 
tion beyond  all  doubt  or  cavil,  while,  at  the  same  time, 
much  that  still  remains  obscure  and  dubious  to  our  im- 
perfect comprehension,  will  ultimately  be  revealed  by  in- 
vestigation of  nature's  laws. 

In  decreeing  Adam's  punishment,  God  cursed  the 
ground  for  his  sake — he  did  not  impair,  or  blight,  or  afflict 
any  of  his  physical  functions.  The  punishment  may 
appear  severe,  but  no  one  can  question  its  wisdom.  Had 
he  inflicted  personal  injury  to  the  race,  it  would  certainly 
have  savored  of  cruelty  ;  but  he  merely  cursed  the  ground. 
And  how,  and  why  ?  He  caused  noxious  weeds,  and 
plants,  and  trees,  to  grow  spontaneously,  and  with  extra- 
ordinary prolificacy,  at  the  same  time  that  blight,  barren- 
ness, disease,  and  death,  attacked  the  fruits.  In  Adam's 
fallen  condition,  bodily  and  mental  exercise  became 
absolutely  essential.  Idleness  is  the  prolific!  mother  of 
.24 


368        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

sin,  and  the  great  Creator  saw  that  to  save  the  race  of 
man,  he  must  be  furnished  with  employment.  Hence  he 
cursed  the  ground,  and  consigned  Adam  and  his  children 
to  the  task  of  subduing  and  tilling  it.  Under  the  circum- 
stances, it  was  no  punishment  at  all — it  was  a  benevolent, 
kind,  and  fatherly  act,  for  it  saved  mankind  from  the 
ennui,  the  idleness,  remorse,  and  languor  that  would  in- 
evitably have  resulted  in  the  ultimate  extinguishment  of 
the  race,  or  in  its  eifeminate  degeneracy  to  that  abject 
weakness,  in  which  it  would  have  fallen  a  prey  to  the 
predaceous  animals.  To  poor  deceived  Eve,  he  simply 
multiplied  the  sorrows  of  her  conception — a  punishment 
which,  after  all,  is  scarcely  greater  than  that  visited  on 
the  inferior  animals.  And  yet,  who  can  fail  to  detect 
Almighty  wisdom  and  benevolence  in  this  ?  Had  her  con- 
ception brought  with  it  no  pains  and  pangs,  no  sorrows 
and  troubles,  and  apprehensions,  what  a  world  of  beastly 
profligacy  and  prostitution  we  should  have  had !  It  is 
absolutely  terrible  and  horrible  to  contemplate.  The  holy 
institution  of  marriage,  the  divine  sentiment  of  love,  of 
parental  affection,  and  domestic  virtue  would  not,  and 
could  not,  have  existed  on  the  earth  ;  but  unbridled  Keen 
tiousness,  beastly  sexual  intercourse,  harlotry,  and  de- 
bauchery would  have  reigned  unchecked  and  supreme. 
Punishment,  indeed  1  It  is  just  such  punishment  as  a 
loving  parent,  knowing  the  weakness  of  his  child,  would 
inflict  under  the  pretext  of  a  terrible  corrective,  but  in 
reality  a  wise  and  benevolent  protection  from  impending 
calamity,  already  brought  down  upon  its  head  by  unre- 
strained liberty.  The  whole  history  of  mankind  and  of 
individuals,  reveals  nothing  but  the  utmost  benevolence 
of  the  Creator — love,  forbearance,  anticipation  of  his  needs 
and  rational  desires,  forgiveness,  partiality,  and  parental 
fondness.  There  is  hardly  a  creature,  a  vegetable,  a 
l,  or  a  substance  of  any  sort  whatever,  above,  beneath, 


THE   DIVINITY    OF   CHRIST.  369 

or  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth  or  seas,  that  is  not  made 
tributary  to  his  wants  or  to  his  childish  fancies  and 
desires.  He  is  an  infant  that  tumbles  into  every  sort  of 
mishap,  and  not  the  watchful  care  of  all  the  angels  of 
heaven  can  restrain  him  from  mischief,  or  from  the  in- 
jurious contact  of  the  prowling  cormorants  of  sin  and 
folly ! 

But,  we  are  told,  God  put  enmity  between  the  seed 
of  the  serpent  and  that  of  the  woman.  What  further 
meaning  has  this  sentence,  in  addition  to  that  already 
presumed  ?  Wherefore  seed  of  the  woman  ?  Satan  se- 
duced woman  ;  he  leveled  his  poisoned  shafts  at  the 
weaker  vessel,  not  at  the  strongest.  To  render  7m  punish- 
ment the  more  poignant,  therefore,  God  redresses  the 
wrongs  of  woman  through  the  strength  or  seed  of  woman. 
He  caused  the  Virgin  Mary  to  conceive  in  holy  immacula- 
tion — the  spirit  of  God  descended  in  her,  and  she  brought 
forth  Christ  in  the  image  of  man.  Christ  assumed  the 
cause  of  his  fallen  race,  and  armed  in  the  holy  panoply  of 
heaven,  lived,  suffered,  and  died  like  a  god.  Thus  the 
human  race  was  cleansed,  purified,  reborn,  as  it  were, 
through  his  spiritual  incarnation  ;  and  man  again  stands 
redeemed  and  disinthralled  from  the  manacles  of  Satan. 
But  as  a  servant  of  God,  he  owes  obedience.  He  must 
not  transgress  his  laws — he  must  not  again  eat  forbidden 
fruit.  He  must  believe  in  Christ,  that  is,  he  must  believe 
in  and  exemplify  the  doctrines  taught  and  practically  illus- 
trated in  the  whole  life,  actions,  and  doctrines  of  Christ. 
He  is  at  once  the  head  and  front,  the  very  incarnation  of 
law;  and  by  pursuing  the  course  he  lays  down,  ever- 
lasting peace  and  good-will  on  earth,  and  felicity  in 
heaven  will  be  secured.  He  did  not  come  upon  the  earth 
to  destroy  the  law  previously  established,  but  rather  to  ex- 
emplify it  in  his  own  incarnation  ;  he  came  not  to  destroy, 
but  to  fulfill,  and  thus  it  is  that  Christianity  vrill  ultimately 


570        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

govern  the  whole  earth,  and  by  its  equitable  operations, 
rescue  all  mankind  from  the  doom  that  would  otherwise 
befall  them.  Much  has  been  said  and  written  regarding  the 
divinity  of  Christ.  One  thing  is  certain, — he  was  a  pure 
man,  and  this  character  is  little  inferior  to  that  of  a  god, 
since  it  inherits  God's  kingdom,  and  secures  immor- 
tality. But  every  thing  'tends  to  confirm  his  divinity 
If  he  were  not  divine,  he  himself  was  a  deceived  man — 
nay,  worse  ;  he  lived  and  died  a  wicked  man.  But  where 
was  the  motive  for  deception  ?  He  did  not  assume 
worldly  pomp — he  did  not  covet  regal  splendor — nor 
princely  luxury — nor  wealth,  nor  temporal  applause, 
honor,  or  station  !  No  !  His  whole  life  was  directly  the 
reverse.  He  was  poor  and  despised.  He  was  jeered  and 
scoffed.  He  was  a  wanderer — without  a  home — without 
courtly  friends — without  a  pillow  to  lay  down  at  night, 
or  a  roof  to  shelter  him  from  the  storm.  He  was  poor, 
indeed  !  And  yet,  what  philosopher  of  any  age  or  clime 
has  promulgated  doctrines  more  in  harmony  with  the 
higher  decrees  of  heaven  ?  What  man,  since  the  fall  of 
Adam,  has  lived  a  purer,  a  more  holy,  and  angelic  life  ? 
He  was  without  reproach.  Like  the  lamb,  he  could  "  lick 
the  hand  just  raised  to  shed  his  blood  1"  He  was  the 
personification  of  wisdom.  His  words  were  more  cutting 
and  more  powerful  than  swords  I  And  yet  his  mission 
was  not  to  destroy,  but  to  save.  His  object  was  love — 
not  gain.  He  wanted  souls — not  wealth. 

Either,  then,  he  was  divine  or  he  was  not.  It  will  not 
suffice  that  he  was  a  monomaniac  in  Religion,  gifted  with 
extraordinary  accomplishments  and  wisdom,  and  powers 
of  meek  suffering  and  endurance.  A  diseased  mind  is 
always  arbitrary,  incoherent,  feverish.  His  was  not ;  on 
the  contrary,  it  was  strong,  flexible,  persistent,  and  logical. 
It  was  controlled  by  god-like  reason  and  wisdom,  and  no 
devices  or  arguments  of  man  or  devil  could  withstand  its 


THE   DIVINITY    OF   CHRIST.  371 

pointed  barbs.  If  he  was  not  divine,  and  especially  ap- 
pointed by  heaven,  he  deceived  himself  and  his  devoted 
apostles,  and  added  to  the  enormity  of  a  life  of  imposture, 
eternal  fraud,  falsehood,  and  perjury.  But  in  the  face  of 
his  spotless  life,  his  holy  work,  his  unrecompensed  suffer- 
ing, persecution,  and  death,  is  it  not  absolutely  sacrilegious 
to  doubt  his  divinity?  Can 'any  one  study  his  character, 
motives,  and  actions,  and  discover  any  thing  like  human 
frailty,  pride,  vanity,  selfishness,  ambition,  or  folly  ? 
Caesar,  Pompey,  Xerxes,  Alexander,  Hannibal,  and  all  the 
great  captains  of  the  earth,  before  and  after  him,  sought 
the  glory  of  States  and  of  National  power; — but  he,  with- 
out arms  and  munitions  of  war ;  without  Senates  or  pomp- 
ous oracles ;  without  games,  feasts,  statues,  paintings,  or 
idolatrous  images,  yet  sought  no  less  an  object  than  the 
redemption  and  conversion  of  the  world,  past,  present,  and 
future, — and  that,  with  no  other  instrument  than  his  in- 
spired words  and  deeds!  Living  in  the  most  critical, 
learned,  and  voluptuous  age  that  had  yet  dawned  upon  the 
earth, — in  the  very  zenith  of  Roman,  Grecian,  and  Persian 
renown — an  age  of  Poetry,  Philosophy,  Science,  Art, 
Literature,  Architecture,  Oratory,  Music,  Diplomacy,  and 
Civil  Government — an  age  whose  heroes  stand  before  time 
in  long  fines  of  historical  statues  ; — living,  preaching, 
suffering,  and  dying  in  such  an  age,  and  at  such  a  time, 
yet  not  a  single  speck  or  blemish  could  be  detected  in  his 
person,  manners,  doctrines,  or  motives — exposed,  as  he 
constantly  was,  to  all  the  assaults  and  blandishments 
of  the  wicked  !  Not  the  shadow  of  a  defect  could  be 
pointed  out  in  his  proffered  scheme  of  salvation.  His 
doctrines  were  the  sublimated  essence  of  all  wisdom  and 
philosophy,  based  as  they  were,  and  are,  upon  faith,  obe- 
dience,  love,  and  virtue. 

The  fall  of  Adam  and  his  species,  it  is  claimed,  was  thus 
compensated  by  the  implied  promise  of  this  very  Saviour 


372        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

— hence  the  enmity  between  the  serpent  and  the  descen- 
dants of  Eve.  Adam  saw  in  this  arrangement  the  future 
regeneration  of  his  race,  and  by  its  retroaction  upon  the 
past,  that  of  himself.  This  consoling  promise  saved  him 
from  again  relapsing  into  the  arms  of  sin,  and  under  it  he 
died  a  good  and  holy  man.  Had  no  such  hope  existed, 
lie  might  again  have  embarrassed  the  plans  of  the  Creator 
fey  self-destruction,  or  that  of  his  doomed  issue.  But  God, 
it  would  seem,  was  merciful,  and  did  all  for  the  best,  but 
in  a  manner  peculiarly  his  own.  Alll  his  acts  and  works 
geern  dim  to  our  feeble  and  limited  vision  ;  but  when  we 
view  them  through  the  glass  of  familiar  Nature,  they  are 
6il  sufficiently  plain  and  simple.  He  not  only  cheered  the 
unfortunate  couple  with  this  promise,  but  furnished  him- 
'elf  the  skins  to  clothe  them.  With  sad  and  subdued 
hearts,  he  then  led  them  out  of  the  Paradise  they  had 
desecrated,  lest  they  should  be  tempted  to  eat  of  the  fruit 
sf  the  tree  of  life,  and  thus  live  forever  in  their  fallen 
.ntnte. 

Although  bat  Vhree  of  Adam's  sons,  and  none  of  his 
slaughters  are  named  in  the  Bible,  it  is  very  likely  that 
^lis  family  WJNB  numerous.  These,  from  the  necessity  of 
the  case,  mupt  have  intermarried,  and  extended  their  set- 
ilements  in  various  directions,  though  not  in  the  more 
remote  continents  of  the  earth.  The  Bible  deals  only 
with  such  names  and  circumstances  as  are  essential  to  the 
prominent  facts  of  its  text — leaving  minor  details  to  be 
inferred.  Therefore,  considering  the  early  habits  of  man- 
kind,— their  pastoral  occupation  and  general  non-commer- 
cial and  non-manufacturing  character,  we  may  conclude 
that  but  a  small  portion  of  the  earth's  surface  was  popu- 
lated during  the  sixteen  hundred  years  that  intervened 
between  the  marriage  of  Adam  and  the  birth  of  the  three 
sons  of  Noah.  Such,  too,  was  the  longevity  of  the  ante- 
diluvian race,  that  but  a  very  few  generations  could  have 


THE   NOACHIAN   FLOOD.  373 

flourished  during  this  period ;  and  as  there  could  hare 
been  no  necessity  for  their  distant  migration,  so  we 
have  no  right  to  infer  that,  up  to  the  time  of  the  flood, 
any  of  Adam's  descendants  wandered  far  off  from  the 
original  centre  of  creation.  But  such  was  the  inherent 
wickedness  of  the  race,  that  God  determined  to  wash  it 
from  the  earth  —  preserving,  however,  its  concentrated 
virtue  and  wisdom  in  Noah  and  his  family.  From  the 
fact  that  Noah  is  represented  as  "perfect  in  his  genera- 
lions,"  it  is  concluded  that  the  promised  seed  of  the  Sa- 
viour had  descended  to  him,  and  thence  through  Abraham 
to  Mary,  the  immaculate  mother  of  Christ.  It  is  impossible 
for  us  to  dwell  upon  the  religious  aspect  of  the  history  of  the 
antediluvian  race ;  we  merely  purpose  to  consider  the  phe- 
nomenon of  the  Noachic  flood,  and  the  remarks  thus  far 
offered  are  only  intended  as  a  connecting  link  between 
the  close  o£  the  Sixth  Day  and  the  dawn  of  the  ensuing 
Sabbath.  The  enmity  which  God  placed  between  the 
seed  of  Evil  and  that  of  Eve,  it  will  be  thus  observed,  was 
brought  to  another  crisis  in  the  deluge,  and  to  its  culmi- 
nating point  in  the  birth  of  Christ. 

In  reference  to  the  flood,  nothing  appears  more  certain 
than  its  universality ;  and  it  is  therefore  a  matter  of  as- 
tonishment that  men  standing  high  as  Theologians  should 
undertake  to  dispute  it.  Among  the  most  recent,  and 
perhaps  the  most  plausible  doubters,  was  the  late  lamented 
Hugh  Miller,  who  brings  to  the  support  of  his  views  the 
testimony  of  some  of  the  most  distinguished  Doctors  of 
Divinity.  The  whole  premises  of  these  distinguished 
Christian-doubters  can  be  demolished  with  a  single  word  : 
if  the  flood  was  only  partial,  and  confined  (as  they  allege) 
to  a  small  area,  where  was  the  necessity  of  the  ark  f  Why 
could  not  God  have  removed  Noah  and  his  family,  and 
the  animals  of  the  earth,  to  the  adjacent  districts  or  con- 
tinents that  remained  unsubmerged  f  Yet  these  plausible 


374        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

Christian  philosophers  (embracing  bishops,  doctors, 
vicars,  and  laymen  without  number,)  fill  volumes  to  ex- 
plain and  apologize  for  the  supposed  errors  of  Revelation, 
as  if  the  word  of  God  were  a  series  of  bungling  errors.  I 
confess  I  have  no  respect  either  for  the  learning  or  the 
religious  integrity  of  such  men.  They  would  have  the 
world  believe  that  the  Bible,  as  it  stands,  is  true  ;  and  yet 
they  write  unnumbered  scientific  homilies  to  prove  that  it 
is  a  fable,  a  farce,  and  a  cheat. 

God  communicated  to  Noah  his  reasons  for  decreeing 
the  destruction  of  the  animated  earth.  He  became  dis- 
gusted with  the  folly  and  wickedness  of  man — "  seeing 
that  every  imagination  of  the  thoughts  of  his  heart  was 
only  evil  continually."  He  repented  that  he  had  made 
man,  or  beast,  or  bird  ;  for  on  looking  upon  the  earth,  he 
could  see  nothing  but  corruption,  in  which  all  flesh  was 
alike  involved.  To  his  faithful  old  servant  he  said,  "  The 
end  of  all  flesh  is  come  before  me  ;  for  the  earth  is  filled 
with  violent  through  them ;  and  behold,  I  will  destroy 
them  with  the  earth"  (that  is,  he  will  use  the  earth  which 
they  were  abusing  to  effect  their  destruction).  He  ordered 
]SToah,  therefore,  to  build  an  ark,  and  gave  him  the  direc- 
tions as  follows  :  "  The  length  of  the  ark  shall  be  three 
hundred  cubits,  the  breadth  of  it  fifty  cubits,  and  the 
height  of  it  thirty  cubits.  A  window  shalt  thou  make  to 
the  ark,  and  in  a  cubit  shalt  thou  finish  it  above  :  and 
the  door  of  the  ark  shalt  thou  set  in  the  side  thereof; 
with  lower,  second,  and  third  stories  shalt  thou  make 
it." 

The  Scripture  cubit,  according  to  Sir  Isaac  Newton, 
is  a  fraction  over  twenty  inches ;  but,  according  to 
Bishop  Wilkins,  it  is  over  twenty-one  inches.  This  may, 
or  may  not,  be  true  ;  but  assuming  either  of  them  to  be 
correct,  or  approximating  the  true  length,  the  dimensions 
of  the  ark  would  be  as  follows :  Length  between  perpen- 


NOAH'S  ARK  AND  THE  GREAT  EASTERN.       375 

diculars,  515  or  547  feet;  breadth,  85  or  91  feet;  depth, 
51  or  54  feet ;  keel,  or  tonnage  capacity,  464  or  492  feet, 
which  would  give  a  tonnage  of  from  18,500  to  22,000 
tons.  A  parallel  to  Noah's  ark  is  presented  in  the  steam- 
ship Great  Eastern,  which  recently  visited  our  shores. 
The  length  of  this  Leviathan  of  the  deep  is,  I  believe, 
680  feet,  breadth  83  feet,  depth  58  feet,  keel  639  feet,  and 
capacity  23,000  tons.  But  this  is  exclusive  of  her  en- 
gines and  propelling  machinery,  and  of  her  elaborate  fur- 
niture, fixtures,  and  properties — none  of  which  encumbered 
the  plain  vessel  of  Noah.  Besides,  all  these  estimates  are 
made  for  live  freight ; — the  actual  tonnage  of  the  Great 
Eastern,  if  laden  with  iron,  would  probably  be  over 
26,000  tons,  and  that  of  the  ark  would  have  been  in  pro- 
portion. Her  machinery  and  properties  occupy  at  least 
one-half  of  her  space,  and  one-half  of  her  carrying  capa- 
city, which  would  thus  raise  her  tonnage  to  nearly  fifty 
thousand  tons.  And  in  this  view,  according  to  the  cubic 
standard  of  Newton  or  Wilkins,  the  carrying  capacity  of 
the  ark  would  be  considerably  augmented,  and  might  be 
safely  computed,  on  the  basis  already  presented,  as  nearly,  if 
not  fully  equal  to  the  Great  Eastern,  without  her  machinery. 
This  would  give  at  least  forty  thousand  tons  burden  for 
live  freight.  An  idea  of  the  enormous  dimensions  of  the 
Great  Eastern  may  be  formed  from  the  fact,  that  she  pre- 
sents as  much  available  room,  and  could  carry  the  com- 
bined freight,  of  ten  of  our  largest  war  vessels.  Thus,  the 
tonnage  of  the  steamer  Pennsylvania,  which  used  to  be 
regarded  as  the  giant  of  the  ocean,  is  3,211  tons ;  that  of 
the  Columbus,  2,489  tons;  the  Ohio,  2,757;  the  North 
Carolina,  2,633;  the  Delaware,  2,633 ;  Yermont,  2,633 ; 
New  Orleans,  2,805  ;  Alabama,  2,683;  Yirginia,  2,633; 
and  the  New  York,  2,633— making  a  total  of  over  28,000 
tons.  These  steamers  are  all  of  the  largest  class,  and  yet 
all  combined  arc  barely  equal  to  the  Great  Eastern  !  And 


376        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

after  removing  their  machinery,  the  whole  would  present 
an  aggregate  of  storage  surface  very  little  superior  to  the 
great  ark  of  Noah.  Now,  if  this  great  steamer  subserves 
no  other  purpose,  it  will  at  least  demonstrate  that  it  is 
sufficiently  capacious  to  constitute  a  menagerie  of  all  the 
terrestrial  animal  species  now  living! 

Hugh  Miller,  however,  with  characteristic  special  plead- 
ing (in  his  Testimony  of  the  fiocks),  brings  down  the 
dimensions  of  the  ark  to  450  feet  in  length,  75  feet  in 
breadth,  and  45  in  height.  He  accomplishes  this  feat  by 
an  ingenious  analysis  of  the  modes  of  measuring  adopted 
by  some  of  his  provincial  countrymen.  "  There,"  says  he, 
"is* the  span,  the  palm,  the  hand-breadth,  -the  thumb- 
breadth  (or  inch),  the  hair-breadth,  and  the  foot.  The 
simple  fisherman  on  our  coasts  still  measures  off  his 
fathoms  by  stretching  out  both  his  arms  to  the  full ;  the 
village  seamstress  still  tells  off  her  cloth-breadths  by 
finger-lengths  and  nails;  the  untaught  tiller  of  the  soil 
still  estimates  the  area  of  his  little  field  by  pacing  along 
its  sides."  According  to  this  system  of  measurement  it  is 
obvious  that  every  thing  depends  on  the  physical  propor- 
tions of  the  measurer.  The  fathoms  of  a  big  Scotch  fish- 
erman would  certainly  exceed  those  of  Tom  Thumb; 
while  the  pedal  extremities  of  the  "  untaught  tiller  of  the 
soil"  would  enlarge  or  decrease  the  area  of  his  "little 
field"  exactly  as  they  happened  to  be  large  or  small.  The 
Irish  clod-hopper,  by  this  rule,  might  easily  obtain  broader 
acres  than  the  Chinese  rat-catcher.  But  even  if  this 
standard  were  adopted,  Noah's  ark  would  rather  be  en- 
larged than  decreased.  The  same  chapter  that  specifies 
the  dimensions  of  the  ark  in  cubits,  informs  us  that  "  there 
were  giants  in  the  earth  in  those  days  ;  and  also  after  that, 
when  the  sons  of  God  came  in  unto  the  daughters  of  men, 
and  they  bare  children  unto  them;  the  same  became 
mighty  men,  which  were  of  old  men  of  renown  "  Now, 


SIR   WALTER   RALEIGH   AND   NOAH'S   ARK.  377 

if  the  ark  was  built  during  an  age  of  giants,  of  men  re- 
nowned for  their  mighty  proportions,  and  the  cubit  was  a 
measure  of  some  portion  of  the  human  frame,  (as  Miller 
says  it  was,  and  still  is,)  instead  of  its  having  been  450 
feet  in  length,  it  was  most  likely  six  or  more  hundred  feet, 
and  had  a  tonnage  capacity  in  exact  proportion  !  And 
this,  after  all,  is  just  as  likely  to  be  correct  as  any  of  the 
estimates  since  proposed.  Miller,  however,  adopts  the 
dimensions  according  to  the  cubit  already  given  ;  and  then 
proceeds  to  consider  how  the  animals  could  be  accommo- 
dated in  the  ark.  He  calls  to  his  aid  Sir  Walter  Raleigh, 
an  experienced  seaman,  who  proceeds  to  pack  them  in 
after  the  following  manner.  "  If  in  a  ship  of  such  gteat- 
ness" — (it  was  a  square,  flat-bottomed  ark,  without  masts, 
spars,  or  rigging  !) — "  if  in  a  ship  of  such  greatness, "says 
Sir  Walter,  "  we  seek  room  for  eighty-nine  distinct  species 
of  beasts,  or,  lest  any  should  be  omitted,  for  a  hundred 
several  kinds,  we  shall  easily  find  place  both  for  them  and 
for  the  birds,  which  in  bigness  are  no  way  answerable  to 
them,  and  for  meat  to  sustain  them  all.  For  there  are 
three  sorts  of  beasts  whose  bodies  are  of  a  quantity  well 
known;  the  beef,  the  sheep,  and  the  wolf;  to  which  the 
rest  may  be  reduced  by  saying,  according  to  Aristotle, 
that  one  elephant  is  equal  to  four  beeves,  one  lion  to  two 
wolves,  and  so  of  the  rest.  Of  beasts,  some  feed  on  vege- 
tables, others  on  flesh.  There  are  one-and-thirty  kinds 
of  the  greater  sort  feeding  on  vegetables,  of  which  number 
only  three  are  clean,  according  to  the  law  of  Moses, 
whereof  seven  of  a  kind  entered  into  the  ark,  namely, 
three  couples  for  breed,  and  one  for  sacrifice ;  the  other 
eight-and-twenty  kinds  were  taken  by  two  of  each  kind  ; 
so  that  in  all  there  were  in  the  ark  one-and-twenty  great 
beasts  clean,  and  six-and-fifty  unclean ;  estimable  for 
largeness  as  ninety-one  beeves:  yet,  for  a  supplement 
(lest,  perhaps,  any  species  be  omitted),  let  them  be  valued 


378        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

as  a  hundred  and  twenty  beeves.  Of  the  lesser  sort,  feed- 
ing on  vegetables,  were  in  the  ark  six-and-twenty  kinds, 
estimable,  with  good  allowance  for  supply,  as  four-score 
sheep.  Of  those  which  devour  flesh,  were  two-and-thirty 
kinds,  answerable  to  three-score  and  four  wolves.  All 
these  two  hundred  and  eighty  beasts  might  be  kept  in 
one  story  or  room  of  the  ark,  in  their  several  cabins  ;  their 
meat  in  a  second ;  the  birds  and  their  provision  in  a  third, 
with  space  to  spare  for  Noah  and  his  family,  and  all  their 
necessaries." 

This  estimate  of  Raleigh's  was  made  nearly  two  cen- 
turies ago,  and  instead  of  there  being  but  eighty  or  one 
hunclred  and  twenty  species  of  animals  on  the  earth,  as 
then  estimated,  discoveries  made  in  the  mean  time  have 
raised  the  number,  large  and  small,  of  all  the  different 
species,  to  several  thousand.  Up  to  this  time,  every 
known  region  of  the  earth  has  been  visited  and  fully  ex- 
plored, and  the  animal  kingdom  is  found  to  embrace  the 
number  of  species  as  follows  :  Quadrumana  170 ;  Marsu- 
pialia  123  ;  Edentata  28 ;  Pachydermata  39 ;  Terrestrial 
Carnivora  514;  Rodentia  604;  Ruminantia  180;  Birds 
6,266 ;  Reptiles  65t ;  Turtles,  etc.  15— making  a  grand 
total  of  living  species  of  8,596.  This  embraces  all  the 
animals  of  the  globe,  large  and  small,  from  the  minute 
mouse  up  to  the  elephant.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind, 
however,  (as  we  have  all  along  warned  the  reader,)  that 
much  diversity  exists  in  the  systems  of  classification 
adopted  by  Naturalists.  What  one  Zoologist  would 
divide  into  three  classes,  another  arranges  under  two  : 
what  one  divides  into  five  orders  or  tribes,  another  will 
arrange  in  three  ;  what  one  separates  into  eight  families 
or  sub-families,  another  can  dispose  of  in  four  or  five  ;  and 
what  one  will  spread  out  into  ten,  twenty,  or  thirty 
species,  another  will  embrace  in  five,  ten,  or  fifteen. 
Thus,  the  feline  animals  comprise  many  species,  the  nuin- 


V 

LENGTH   OP   THE   SCRIPTURE   CUBIT.  379 

ber  of  which  might,  with  propriety,  be  greatly  reduced. 
And  so  with  nearly  every  division  of  the  animal  kingdom. 
Species,  as  ordinarily  used,  implies  a  general,  not  an  exact 
resemblance  to  the  parents.  It  could  easily  be  demon- 
strated that  climate,  external  circumstances,  and  the  con- 
trolling exigencies  of  necessity  have  created  more  species 
in  the  classifications  of  Naturalists  than  primarily  existed 
in  the  original  progenitors  of  the  Animal  Kingdom.  But 
to  enter  upon  a  discussion  of  this  point  here,  would  ap- 
pear hypercritical,  and  might  be  regarded  as  an  evasion  of 
the  main  question.  We  despise  any  such  pretexts  or  sub- 
terfuges, and  should  still  rely  on  the  abundant  capacities 
of  the  ark  to  accommodate  them  all,  if  the  number  of 
species  were  twice  as  great  as  is  now  claimed — for  the 
question  involved  is  not  as  to  the  number  of  animals,  but 
simply  as  to  the  dimensions  and  capacities  of  the  ark. 
And  this,  singularly  enough,  and  in  the  face  of  the  exact 
and  explicit  language  of  Scripture,  turns  upon  the  value 
of  the  cubit.  In  ordinary,  the  cubit  is  the  ulna,  or  bone 
which  extends  from  the  elbow  to  the  wrist ;  but  in  modem 
mensuration,  it  represents  the  length  of  a  man's  arm  from 
the  elbow  to  the  extremity  of  the  middle  finger.  Webster 
observes  that  the  standard  length  of  the  ancient  cubit 
varied  with  different  nations,  as  we  know  the  length  of 
the  hand  and  the  ulna  vary  with  different  individuals. 
With  most  men,  the  ulna  seldom  exceeds  eleven  inches, 
and  the  hand,  from  the  wrist  joint  to  the  point  of  the  mid- 
dle finger,  rarely  exceeds  seven  and  a  half  inches.  The 
two  combined,  in  our  largest  individuals,  would  perhaps 
reach  nineteen  inches.  The  Roman  cubit,  according  to 
Dr.  Arbuthnot,  was  seventeen  inches  and  four-tenths,  and 
that  of  England  eighteen  inches.  The  Scripture  cubit  is 
defined  as  being  a  fraction  less  than  twenty-two  inches  ; 
but  as  to  the  antediluvian  cubit,  we  have  no  positive  in- 
formation. If,  however,  the  average  length  of  the  ulna 


380        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

and  hand  of  men  now  living  be  estimated  at  nineteen  or 
twenty  inches,  we  are  entitled  to  infer  that,  during  the 
race  of  giants  which  flourished  before  and  after  Noah's 
era,  they  averaged  from  twenty-one  to  twenty-two  inches. 
The  cubjt,  thus  graduated,  would  make  the  ark  quite  as 
large  as  the  Great  Eastern,  and,  leaving  out  her  machin- 
ery, masts,  and  ordinary  sailing  and  propelling  properties, 
the  tonnage  capacity  of  such  a  vessel  might  be  estimated, 
in  round  numbers,  at  fifty  thousand  tons.  But,  not  to  ap- 
pear unreasonable  in  our  estimate,  we  will  say — according 
to  the  twenty-two  inch  cubit  of  Newton — that  the  ton- 
nage of  the  ark,  for  live  stock,  was  at  least  equal  to 
twenty  thousand  tons,  of  twenty-two  hundred  and  forty 
Ibs  each,  or  to  44,800,000  Ibs.  This  is  considerably  less 
than  the  capacity  of  the  Great  Eastern,  even  including 
her  five  or  six  steam  engines,  her  steam  pumps  and  life- 
boats, her  sails,  masts,  and  rigging. 

As  to  the  structure  of  this  enormous  boat,  but  little 
need  be  said.  The  timber  was  close  at  hand,  and  its 
architecture,  though  simple  and  rude,  was  yet  substantial. 
It  was,  simply,  a  gigantic  flat-bottomed  boat,  with  three 
stories,  instead  of  one,  exclusive  of  the  roof  or  deck. 
Like  the  small  plank  and  lumber  arks  that  annually  de- 
scend our  rivers,  its  joints  were  carefully  caulked  and 
pitched  ;  and  this  was  all  that  the  circumstances  required. 
It  was  not  intended  to  ride  the  waves  and  storms  of 
ocean,  but  rather  to  be  borne  gradually  up  along  the  sink- 
ing land,  like  a  vessel  during  the  flowing  in  of  high  tide. 

A  difficulty  has  been  suggested  as  to  how  the  animals 
came  to  Noah  ;  but  if  the  other  end  of  the  proposition 
were  presented,  there  would  be  no  difficulty  at  all.  The 
animals  did  not  come  to  Noah ;  Noah  went  to  them. 
His  orders  were  specific,  and  he  obeyed  them.  But  how  ? 
Did  he  or  his  agents  wander  over  the  earth,  armed  with 
spears,  and  lasso,  and  traps  to  hunt  down  and  capture 


DID   NOAH    SELECT   YOUNG   OR   OLD   ANIMALS  ?          3sl 

the  animals  ?  or,  like  a  man  of  sense,  taking  a  practical 
view  of  the  enterprise  committed  to  him,  did  he  merely 
seek  the  young  of  each  species,  and  arrange  them  in  a 
general  cosmopolitan  menagerie,  to  be  trained  to  the  voy- 
age they  were  to  undergo  ?  We  have  no  right  to,suppose 
that  Noah  was  an  ignorant,  simple-minded,  old  man  ;  on 
the  contrary,  he  was  «eminent  for  his  wisdom  and  virtue. 
He  was,  consequently,  fully  equal  to  the  great  enterprise 
with  which  God  intrusted  him.  Being  a  man  of  practical 
sense,  therefore,  his  obvious  policy  was  to  obtain  young 
animals ;  first,  because  they  would  be  more  tractable  ; 
second,  because  they  would  occupy  less  space  in  the  ark ; 
third,  because  they  would1  not  encumber  the  ark  with 
brood  ;  and  fourth,  because  their  powers  of  recuperation 
would  afterward  be  superior  to  those  of  adult  animals ; 
and  fifth,  because  they  would  require  less  forage  for  their 
keeping.  "Would  not  the  cubs  of  the  bear,  the  lion,  the 
tiger,  the  elephant,  rhinoceros — the  calves  of  the  herd,  of 
camels  and  horses,  and  the  young  of  all  quadrupeds, 
answer  his  purpose  better,  in  every  point  of  view,  than  the 
full-grown  animals  ?  Would  snakes  a  week  old,  not 
suffice  as  well,  (or  rather  better,)  than  boas  and  vipers 
twenty  feet  in  length  ?  Was  it  necessary  to  fill  his  ark 
with  antiquated  oxen,  and  elephants,  and  camels,  that  had 
done  service  in  the  plow  or  the  caravan  ?  Must  he 
select  poor  old  spavined  horses,  toothless  lions,  and  tigers, 
and  bears,  when  the  little  cubs  would  best  correspond 
with  the  object  of  his  mission  ?  The  idea  is  too  absurd 
to  be  entertained. 

That  the  ark,  indeed,  was  filled  with  the  young  of 
each  species,  is  manifest  in  the  fact  that  no  births  oc- 
curred on  board,  although  the  vessel  was  afloat  for 
one  hundred  and  fifty  days.  This  remark,  of  course, 
applies  only  to  the  larger  quadrupeds ;  for  among  that 
somewhat  numerous  and  diminutive  class,  whose  ex- 


382        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

istence  is  limited  to  a  few  months,  the  propagation  of 
the  species  must  have  continued  uninterrupted.  A 
similar  exception  may  be  made  for  birds,  among  whom 
the  process  of  incubation  must  have  been  constantly  main- 
tained. As  it  required  many  j%ars  to  build  the  ark, 
there  was  abundant  time  to  collect  the  animals.  And  as 
these  occupied  but  a  comparatively  small  geographical 
area,  and  were  still  under  the  dominion,  and  many  of  them 
in  the  service  of  man,  there  was  really  little  difficulty  in 
bringing  them  together.  The  lion  and  the  tiger  had  little 
of  the  ferocity  which,  in  their  native  jungles,  distinguishes 
them  now.  The  whole  animal  creation,  like  man  him- 
self, was  originally  of  a  more  subdued  and  tractable  na- 
ture than  it  has  since  become.  And,  mainly  confined  to 
the  area  then  occupied  by  the  human  species,  it  required 
no  extraordinary  efforts  to  bring  them  together,  or  to 
collect  a  menagerie  of  specimens.  The  species  that  may 
have  wandered  off  into  other  continents,  if  they  left  no 
descendants  at  home,  necessarily  became  extinct  after  the 
flood.  The  Bible  says  so,  and  Geology  proves  it.  The 
earth  teems  with  their  fossil  remains,  and  the  extinct  are 
buried  in  the  same  strata  with  those  of  the  representatives 
of  living  species.  Their  number,  however,  was  compara- 
tively small ;  for  the  great  bulk  of  all  the  animals  of  the 
antediluvian  earth  continued  within  the  range  of  the  orig- 
inal circle  of  the  Adamite  Creation.  But  while  some  of 
them  may,  and  did  wander  off,  and  even  reach  distant 
continents,  most  of  the  original  types,  or  progenitors  of 
species,  remained  behind,  and  came  into  the  ark  of  Noah. 
There  is  no  fact  in  the  entire  range  of  Geological  dis- 
covery, more  palpable  and  overwhelming  than  this.  It 
forms  a  line  of  separation  between  the  fauna  of  the  past 
and  the  present,  as  broad  as  the  continents  themselves. 
From  facts  that  are  thus  clear,  it  is  easy  to  follow  the 


INTERIOR   ARRANGEMENT   OF   THE   ARK.  38£ 

foot-prints  of  others  more  obscure,  and  bring  order  out  of 
a  seeming  chaos. 

But  let  as  now  inquire  how  the.  animals  can  be  accommo- 
dated. The  ark,  we  will  suppose,  on  the  basis  of  a 
twenty-two  inch  cubit,  ^to  have  been  600  feet  in  length, 
and  100  feet  in  width.  This  would  give  us  an  area  of 
60,000  square  feet  to  each  floor,  making  an  aggregate  of 
180,000  square  feet  for  the  three  stories,  exclusive  of  the 
cabin  under  the  roof  for  Noah  and  his  family,  and  for  the 
storage  of  such  articles  as  could  occupy  the  deck  of  the 
vessel.  We,  of  course,  cannot  assume  to  understand  the 
real  interior  plan  or  structure  of  the  ark,  but  presume  it 
was  extremely  simple.  We  can  suppose  it  to  have  been 
divided  into  stalls,  running  lengthwise  with  the  ark,  and 
separated  by  narrow  alleys  for  drainage,  and  to  allow  the 
passage  to  and  fro  of  the  grooms  of  the  animals.  The 
first  two  ranges  of  stalls,  extending  along  both  sides  of 
the  vessel,  we  shall  devote  to  the  cubs  of  the  larger 
animals — as  the  elephant,  the  rhinoceros,  the  camel,  the 
horse,  the  domestic  cattle,  including  the  buffalo,  the  bison, 
and  the  elk,  moose,  and  deer.  These,  although  extremely 
numerous  in  all  parts  of  the  earth,  comprise  but  few 
species ;  scarcely  more,  in  fact,  than  originally  estimated 
by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh.  He  computed  them  at  eighty- 
nine,  but  his  magnanimity  extended  the  number  to  one 
hundred,  which  he  estimated  in  bulk  as  equal  to  120 
beeves.  We,  however,  will  double  the  liberal  estimate  of 
the  gallant  chevalier.  We  will  suppose  that  there  are 
now  living  200  of  the  larger  animal  species,  counting  from 
the  elephant  to  the  horse.  Of  these  animals  that  went 
into  the  ark,  according  to  the  Mosaic  law,  some  were 
clean  and  others  unclean.  For  the  sake  of  facilitating  our 
estimate,  we  will  suppose  200  of  the  former,  and  400  of 
the  latter — in  all  600  animals  provided  for  in  the  ark. 
Adding  20  per  cent,  to  equalize  their  bulk,  we  have  a 
25 


384        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

number  equal  to  seven  hundred  and  twenty  head  of 
cattle.  This,  of  course,  is  based  upon  the  theory  of  full- 
grown  animals — a  proposition  which  cannot  be  allowed 
for  a  moment,  because  it  is  at  war  with  all  reason  and 
common  sense.  We  take  it  for  an  absolute  certainty  that 
all  the  larger  animal  species  were  represented  by  cubs  or 
young,  for  the  reasons  already  stated.  The  young  of  all 
classes  of  the  large  animals,  but  especially  those  of  the 
elephant,  rhinoceros,  bison,  etc.,  are  very  slow  in  their 
growth  and  development,  and  for  several  years  do  not  ex- 
ceed the  proportions  of  an  adult  bear.  Those  of  most  of 
the  others  are  even  smaller,  as  cattle,  the  moose,  deer,  etc. 
It  would  be  safe,  therefore,  to  compute  the  average  size 
of  all  as  equal  to  the  bear,  agreeably  to  the  basis  of 
Raleigh  and  Aristotle.  Instead,  therefore,  of  120  head  of 
cattle,  we  now  have  720  bears  to  provide  for,  the  aggre- 
gate of  whose  bulk  occupies  the  same  relation  to  the  former 
as  their  weight.  That  is,  if  the  720  cattle  averaged  1,200 
Ibs.  each,  the  bears  would  not  average  more  than  300  Ibs., 
or  one  fourth.  This,  we  think,  is  a  liberal  allowance,  and 
contemplates  cubs  more  than  one-half  developed  (for 
weight  generally  increases  only  with  the  adult  animal) 
Instead  of  864,000  Ibs.,  we  thus  have  but  216,000  Ibs.,  or 
instead  of  the  bulk  of  720  cattle,  we  now  have  that  of  720 
bears.  Now,  if  we  suppose  the  first  floor  of  the  ark  to 
have  been  apportioned  into  ranges  of  stalls,  corresponding 
in  size  to  the  animals  to  be  accommodate^  an  estimate  of 
the  quantity  of  superficial  feet  occupied,  can  readily  be 
formed.  Thus,  the  stalls  ranging  along  the  sides  of  the 
vessel,  might  be  partitioned  into  apartments  averaging  8 
feet  in  lateral  depth,  and  6  feet  in  width.  The  ark  being 
600  feet  long,  would  thus  afford  two  hundred  stalls  of  this 
uniform  width.  The  animals  being  reduced  to  the  average 
size  of  bears,  three  and  a  half  of  them  could  be  accommo- 
dated in  each  stall,  and  leave  abundant  room  for  their 


ARRANGEMENT  OF  THE  ANIMALS  IN  THE  ARK   385 

movement  backward  and  forward.  The  Royal  Bengal 
tiger  ami  his  mate,  or  the  African  lions,  are  often  confined 
in  the  cages  of  menageries,  to  areas  relatively  very  much 
smaller.  Allowing  three  and  a  half  animals,  therefore,  to 
each  stall,  we  can  provide  for  seven  hundred  in  the  two 
ranges  along  the  sides.  We  thus  dispose  of  all  the  large 
animals,  except  twenty,  which  can  be  hereafter  provided 
for  in  other  stalls. 

We  have  thus  taken  sixteen  feet  from  the  one  hundred 
feet  width  of  the  ark.  Allowing  two  passages  or  alleys, 
each  3  feet  wide,  we  now  erect  two  other  ranges  of  double 
stalls,  running  parallel  with  the  first-mentioned,  the  entire 
length  of  the  ark;  These,  instead  of  eight  feet  in  depth, 
will  be  but  five ;  and  instead  of  six  feet  in  width,  will  be 
but  four.  Two  double  ranges  would  thus  give  150  to 
each  range,  or  600  stalls  in  all.  In  these  could  be  ac- 
commodated the  cubs  of  what  may  be  classed  as  second-  f 
class  animals — such  as  the  bear,  the  lion,  the  tiger,  the 
leopard,  the  panther,  the  jaguar,  sheep,  swine,  goats,  etc. 
Four  of  the  cubs  of  these  animals  could  be  placed  in  each 
stall,  and  we  should  be  able  to  provide  comfortably  for 
2,400  individuals,  or  twelve  hundred  progenitors  of 
species.  Allowing  250  species  for  the  720  large  animals, 
we  should  thus  far  have  a  total  of  3,120  animals,  and  1,450 
species  ;  while  the  room  thus  far  occupied  is  but  48  per 
cent,  of  the  width  of  the  ark,  and  perhaps  not  one-sixtieth 
part  of  its  actual  tonnage  capacity. 

Leaving  two  other  alleys,  each  2-J  feet  wide,  we  shall 
again  extend  two  double  rows  of  stalls  the  whole  length 
of  the  ark.  Instead  of  five  feet  in  depth,  we  shall  have 
these  but/bwr ;  and  instead  of  four  feet  in  width,  we  shall 
make  them  three.  We  should  thus  have  two  hundred 
stalls  in  each  range,  making  for  the  four  ranges,  eight 
hundred  in  all.  These  stalls  would  suffice  for  the  cubs  of 
third  class  animals — such  as  dogs,  cats,  armadillos,  sloths, 


386        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

chinchillas,  foxes,  rabbits,  pigs,  dogs,  hares,  beavers, 
wolves,  etc.  These  could  be  stalled  in  fours,  buj  we  will 
say  an  average  of  three — making  a  total  of  2,400  indi- 
viduals, and  1,200  species,  and  summing  up  an  aggregate, 
thus  far,  of  5,520  animals,  and  about  2,650  species. 
These  stalls  and  alleys  have  absorbed  21  feet  of  the 
width  of  the  ark,  which,  added  to  the  previous  48  feet, 
make  69  feet  in  all.  Of  the  tonnage,  not  over  one-fiftieth 
part  has  been  absorbed. 

We  now  again  leave  two  alleys,  each  2J  feet  wide,  and 
then  arrange  two  more  sets  of  double  stalls.  These, 
instead  of  four,  will  be  3j  feet  deep,  and  instead  of  three 
feet  in  width,  will  be  but  two.  Consequently,  each  range 
will  have  300  stalls,  or  in  all,  1,200.  In  these  we  shall 
place  the  young  of  the  animals  of  the  fourth  class — such 
as  civets,  weasels,  ferrets,  martins,  pole-cats,  sables,  otters, 
moles,  Guinea-pigs,  squirrels,  jerboas,  marmots,  rats,  mice, 
— though  many  of  them,  being  aquatic,  need  hardly  be 
provided  for.  Four  of  these  could  again  be  accommodated 
in  each  stall,  making  an  aggregate  of  4,800  animals,  and, 
say,  2,400  species.  Added  to  the  others,  we  have  thus 
far  arranged  for  10,320  individuals,  and  5,050  species. 
We  have  occupied  88  feet  of  the  100  feet  width  of  the  ark, 
leaving  12  feet  to  our  credit.  We  will  appropriate  this 
space  to  two  'alleys,  each  two  feet  wide,  with  a  double 
row  of  stalls  down  the  centre,  for  a  distance  of  500  feet, 
leaving  the  remainder  to  be  occupied  by  the  cubs  of  the 
twenty  large  animals  hitherto  unprovided  for.  The  stalls 
thus  erected  would  be  3J  feet  in  depth,  by  two  in  width, 
making  altogether  500  stalls.  These  could  be  occupied, 
three,  or  four,  or  half  a  dozen  to  the  stall,  by  such  animals 
as  were  hitherto  unprovided  for — provided,  however,  that 
any  remain  on  hand!  The  stalls  would  accommodate  at 
teast  2,000,  which,  added  to  the  previous  number,  would 
daake  in  all  12,320  animals,  and  6,050  species,  or  kinds. 


ARRANGEMENT  OF  ANIMALS  IN  THE  ARK.     387 

According  to  Newton,  the  ark  must  have  been  from 
fifty-five  to  sixty  feet  in  perpendicular  height  or  depth. 
The  lower  story  must  therefore  have  been  at  least  twenty 
feet  in  height ;  and  the  second  and  third,  nearly,  if  not 
exactly  the  same.  Now,  if  this  were  so,  there  is  no 
reason  why  cages  for  the  feathered  animals  should  not 
have  been  arranged  over  all  the  stalls  here  mentioned. 
Allowing  a  height  of  eleven  feet  for  all  the  stalls  of  the 
animals,  there  would  remain  nine  feet  for  the  bird  cages  ; 
and  arranging  these  on  the  basis  of  the  different  ranges 
of  stalls,  at  least  twenty  thousand  birds,  and  ten  thousand 
species,  could  be  comfortably  provided  for.  This,  added 
to  the  other,  makes  32,320  animals,  and  16,050  species  ! 
And  yet,  not  more  than  one-fortieth  part  of  the  tonnage 
capacity  of  the  ark  is  thus  far  occupied. 

The  second  story,  being  a  mere  copy  of  the  first,  needs 
no  amplification  here.  The  only  animals  that  yet  remain 
unprovided  for,  are  those  of  turtles,  snakes,  lizards,  toads, 
crocodiles,  and  the  numerous  species  of  flies,  insects,  spi- 
ders, scorpions,  etc.  All  these,  however,  it  will  be  readily 
admitted,  could  be  accommodated  in  a  single  row  of  stalls. 
The  marine  and  semi-aqueous  species,  of  course,  could 
shift  for  themselves — including  many  fowls,  insects,  and 
mammals.  As  not  more  than  half  of  the  actual  capacities 
of  the  ark  could  have  been  occupied  by  the  animals,  it 
may  be  inferred  that  a  large  space  was  devoted  to  forage 
and  provisions.  But  when  we  bear  in  mind  that  all,  or 
most  of  the  animals  were  young — mere  cubs,  calves,  or 
lambs — I  am  unable  to  perceive  the  necessity  for  such  an 
inference.  The  fact  is,  comparatively  little  space  was  re- 
quired for  such  storage.  Few  of  the  animals  required 
even  straw  to  lie  down  upon ; — for  if  the  stalls  had  a 
gradual  slope  into  the  alleys,  covered  gutters  would  con- 
vey away  all  the  natural  excrements,  and  they  could  be 
cleaned  as  circumstances  required.  A  little  hay  would  be 


388        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

relished  by  some,  grains  by  others,  and  flesh  by  all  the 
carnivora.  A  large  number,  however,  would  be  fed  on 
milk,  to  supply  which  there  must  have  been  a  special 
stock  of  adult  cows  and  goats,  as  well  as  flesh  for  the 
strictly  carnivorous.  But  one  half  of  the  area  of  the  sec- 
ond story  would  suffice  to  store  all  the  forage  necessary 
for  a  year's  voyage.  The  whole  of  the  third  story,  and 
the  roofed  deck,  would  thus  remain  comparatively  unoc- 
cupied ;  but  we  can  well  suppose  that,  in  addition  to 
animals,  Noah  had  also  supplied  himself  with  a  stock  of 
plants,  vegetables,  seeds,  and  fruits,  so  that,  on  his  return 
to  the  impoverished  land,  he  would  not  long  remain  with- 
out the  customary  necessaries  of  life.  We  have  thus 
shown,  that,  according  to  the  data  furnished  by  the  Doubt- 
ers themselves,  there  was  room  for  more  than  thirty  thou- 
sand animals,  representing  nearly  half  that  number  of 
species  ;  and  that,  if  there  were  more,  more  could  easily 
have  been  accommodated  !  Zoologists  may  therefore  go 
on,  and  ransack  with  impunity  every  corner  of  the  earth, 
to  multiply  species ;  but  they  will  find  the  ark  prepared 
to  receive  all  they  can  bring  forward,  and  still  have 
abundant  room  to  spare!  I  will  merely  add,  in  leaving 
this  branch  of  my  subject,  that  whatever  may  be  thought 
of  the  space  allotted  to  the  animals  by  my  arrangement 
of  the  ark,  it  far  exceeds  that  usually  devoted  to  the 
animals  in  traveling  menageries,  where,  as  before  re- 
marked, the  Royal  Bengal  Tigers  ^nd  African  Lions  are 
often  confined  in  cages  barely  large  enough  for  them  to 
turn  round.  Moreover,  all  my  arrangements  are  predi- 
cated on  the  basis  of  Aristotle  and  Raleigh,  and  if  any 
mistake  has  been  made,  it  is  theirs,  not  mine.  But,  if  any 
exist,  it  will  be  found  to  militate  against  the  doubters  of 
the  ark's  capacities,  and  not  against  those  who  regard  it 
as  sufficiently  large  to  have .  subserved  all  the  purposes 
contemplated  by  the  Creator. 


SUBTERRANEAN   STREAMS.  3S9 

We  now  come  to  consider  the  flood  itself.  The  animals, 
whatever  their  number  and  variety  may  have  been,  were 
safely  disposed  in  the  ark,  and  it  only  remains  for  us  to 
institute  some  inquiries  touching  the  flood.  Here,  again, 
the  Bible  is  explicit :  "  In  the  six  hundredth  year  of  Noah's 
life,  in  the  second  month,  the  seventeenth  day  of  the 
month,  the  same  day  were  all  the  fountains  of  the  great 
deep,  broken  up,  and  the  windows  of  heaven  were  opened. 
And  the  rain  was  upon  the  earth  forty  days  and  forty 
nights.  And  the  waters  increased,  and  bare  up  the  ark, 
and  it  was  lifted  up  above  the  earth.  And  the  waters 
prevailed  exceedingly  upon  the  earth ;  anfl  all  the  high 
hills,  that  were  under  the  whole  heaven,  were  covered. 
Fifteen  cubits  upward  did  the  waters  prevail,  and  the 
mountains  were  covered.  And  the  waters  prevailed  upon 
the  earth  one  hundred  and  fifty  days." 

"  The  fountains  of  the  great  deep  broken  up" — what  is 
meant  by  this  ?  What  are  the  fountains  of  the  great 
deep  ?  They  are,  in  part,  the  springs  of  water  which 
gush  out  from  the  surface  of  the  ground,  and  underneath 
rivers,  lakes,  and  oceans.  The  crust  of  the  earth  is  per- 
meated by  water.  Almost  everywhere,  by  digging  a  hole 
ten,  fifty,  or  a  hundred  or  more  feet  deep,  according  to  the 
position  of  the  strata,  water  will  gush  forth — the  deeper 
the  excavation,  the  greater  the  supply.  Now,  in  general, 
the  water  thus  obtained  is  accumulated  in  the  fissures  of 
the  earth  from  surface  drainage.  This  is  evident  from  the 
fact  that,  during  seasons  of  drought,  many  springs  are 
temporarily  exhausted.  But  there  are  also  lakes  and 
great  rivers  of  water  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  not  di- 
rectly due  to  surface  drainage.  In  France,  in  boring  for 
water,  the  auger  suddenly  fell  a  foot  or  more,  when  a 
stream  of  water  rushed  forth— thus  proving  that  a  reser- 
voir had  been  struck.  In  another  instance,  after  boring 
3f  5  feet,  fine  sand,  vegetable  matter,  and  shells  of  species 


390        THE  SEVENTH  DAY— THE  SABBATH. 

living  in  the  vicinity  were  brought  up,  indicating  that 
they  must  have  descended  by  some  passage  in  the  bottom 
of  a  river.  In  Germany,  fish  were  thus  brought  up,  al- 
though no  river  existed  within  many  miles.  Salt  springs, 
although  they  are  thought  to  emanate  from  deposits  of 
rock  salt  lying  at  a  great  depth  in  the  earth,  may,  in  some 
cases,  be  due  to  subterranean  drainage  from  the  ocean. 
The  borings  for  salt,  in  nearly  all  the  Western  States,  are 
scarcely  ever  less  than  eight  hundred,  and  many  of  them 
are  more  than  fifteen  hundred  feet.  The  Artesian  wells  of 
Paris  are  over  eighteen  hundred,  and  that  of  Charleston, 
S.  C.,  (if  we  are  not  mistaken,)  is  nearly  two  thousand 
feet  deep.  That  recently  sunk  by  Mr.  Lauer,  of  Reading, 
is  nearly  two  thousand  feet  deep.  So,  also,  another,  in 
Columbus,  Ohio.  These  deep  borings  very  often  pass 
through  the  upper  formation  or  system  of  rocks,  into  the 
adjacentTones  below,  where  the  water  is  usually  found  in 
anti-synclinal  basins ;  and  as  it  cannot,  therefore,  be  de- 
rived from  the  surface  immediately  overlying,  it  follows 
that  it  must  emanate  from  a  distance,  which  may  be  great 
or  small ;  and,  in  the  case  of  salt  springs,  may  proceed 
from  the  ocean,  or  distant  salt  lakes,  or  salt  deposits.  In 
the  State  of  Michigan,  subterranean  lakes  have  been  found 
but  a  short  distance  from  the  surface  ;  and,  in  one  in- 
stance, in  excavating  the  track  of  a  railway  in  that  State, 
a  large  and  deep  basin  was  struck,  into  which  the  surface 
earth  disappeared  so  rapidly,  that  many  of  the  laborers 
barely  escaped  with  their  lives.  The  waters  were  beauti 
fully  clear,  and  contained  myriads  of  fish  of  the  finest 
flavor.  Such  lakes,  however,  generally  occur  at  a  great 
depth,  and  their  waters  are  only  forced  up  through  the 
fissures  of  the  rocks  by  powerful  hydrostatic  pressure. 
Artesian  wells  are  borings  made  through  rock,  or  a 
stratum  of  clay,  into  a  more  porous  or  cavernous  forma- 
tion beneath,  which,  in  consequence  of  such  porosity,  be- 


GLACIERS   OF   MOUNTAINS.  391 

comes  a  storehouse  of  water.  Thus,  a  valley  between  two 
hills  or  mountains,  may  be  covered  by  clay,  through 
which  no  water  will  drain.  But  the  slopes  of  the  moun- 
tain may  be  sandy,  in  which  case  the  water  will  soak 
through  the  sand,  and  accumulate  in  the  valley,  under  the 
layer  of  clay.  Now,  by  boring  through  the  clay,  a  col- 
umn of  water  will  rise  to  the  surface,  and  sometimes  shoot 
up  in  a  fountain,  to  the  height  of  ten  or  fifty  feet.  These 
are  called  Artesian  wells,  because  the  experiment  of  sink- 
ing them  was  first  made  in  the  district  of  Artois,  in  France. 
Limestone  formations  are  almost  invariably  of  a  stratified 
and  cavernous  structure,  and  consequently  often  contain 
immense  stores  of  water.  These  reservoirs  are  generally 
supplied  by  surface  drainage,  and  then  tapped  by  springs 
in  the  valleys  and  plains,  which  form  the  sources  of  rivu- 
lets, creeks,  rivers,  lakes,  and  oceans.  Where  a  broad 
surface  of  water  is  presented  to  the  sun,  evaporation  takes 
place.  The  heat  of  the  air  absorbs  it  from  the  ground,  as 
well  as  from  lakes  and  oceans.  The  heat  of  summer,  in 
a  few  hours,  will  lick  up  all  the  water  of  a  shallow  pond, 
and  bestow  it  upon  vegetation  ;  or  it  will  gather  it  into 
the  atmosphere  in  clouds  of  vapor,  and  again  spread  it 
over  the  earth  in  genial  showers. 

On  the  summits  of  all  the  higher  mountains,  as  those  of 
the  Alps,  the  Himalaya,  and  the  Rocky  mountains,  the 
rain  congeals,  and  with  the  snow,  forms  stratum  upon 
stratum  of  sleet  and  ice.  The  mass  constantly  increases 
until  its  ten  thousand  peaks  are  buried  in  the  clouds — 
forming,  as  it  were,  gigantic  stalagmites  or  steeples, 
piercing  the  regions  of  eternal  cold.  On  the  summit  of 
the  Alps,  the  ice  and  snow  thus  accumulated,  forms 
plateaux  two  or  three  hundred  square  miles  in  extent,  and 
varying  in  thickness  from  one  to  three  hundred  feet.  The 
table-lands  are  traversed  by  rivers  of  melted  snow,  which 
are  filled  with  fragments  of  ice,  cut  loose  from  the  adjacent 


392        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

cones,  pyramids,  and  canoned  shores.  During  the  summer, 
especially  after  long-continued  rains,  the  rivers  and  lakes 
are  swollen,  and  immense  bodies  of  ice  are  undermined  by 
the  water,  and  borne  slowly  down  the  mountain  slope. 
Before  they  piroceed  far,  however,  winter  again  sets  in,  and 
the  isolated  masses  are  united  by  new  congelations. 
While  constant  additions  are  thus  made  to  the  aggregate 
bulk,  the  descending  movement,  although  very  slow,  and 
rarely  exceeding  from  one  to  five  hundred  feet  per  year, 
still  continues.  The  summer  always  relaxes  the  icy  grasp 
of  winter,  for  a  short  season,  and  the  canon  streams  cut 
immense  incisions  into  the  mountains  of  snow,  or  under- 
mine the  huge  cliffs.  As  they  thus  become  detached, 
the  downward  movement  proceeds,  when  finally,  Teach- 
ing the  precipices  of  the  mountain,  the  enormous  masses 
slide  down  with  irresistible  force.  These  are  termed 
avalanches.  They  invariably  carry  with  them  immense 
rocks,  trees,  gravel,  and  earth ;  and  entire  villages,  and 
hundreds  of  people  have  been  destroyed  by  their  unlooked- 
for  visitations.  The  narrow  valleys  of  the  Alps  teem 
with  little  villages,  all  of  which  are  more  or  less  e&posed 
to  the  contingencies  of  avalanches,  which,  although  very 
slow  in  their  downward  movement  until  they  reach  the 
fatal  precipices,  are  yet  certain,  if  sufficient  time  be 
allowed.  The  glaciers  of  the  Alps  vary  in  their  altitude 
. — some  being  as  low  down  as  3,000  foet,  while  others 
ascend  to  a  height  of  from  7,000  to  8,000  feet.  Some  of 
them  are  fifteen  miles  long,  and  are  so  permanent  in  their 
features  and  characteristics,  that  they  are  kn#wn  by 
specific  names.  When  these  glaciers  or  avalanches  de- 
scend the  mountain,  they  sometimes  stretch  across  the 
narrow  valleys,  and  form  dams  which  arrest  the  water. 
The  water  is  thus  backed,  until  finally  a  sluice  is  cut,  and 
the  whole  gradually  is  swept  away.  If,  however,  the 
avalanche  descends  into  the  ocean,  it  becomes  an  iceberg, 


ICEBERGS   IN.  THE   ATLANTIC.  393 

and  it  is  then  floated  about,  until  the  ice  gradually  melting, 
the  rocks,  trees,  gravel,  and  mud,  are  deposited  in  irre- 
gular heaps  or  lines  over  the  bottom  of  the  sea.  Such 
deposits,  when  they  occur  in  heaps,  are  styled  moraines. 

Great  as  are  the  effects  wrought  by  these  high  moun- 
tain avalanches  and  glaciers,  they  are  mere  trifles  com- 
pared with  the  stupendous  icebergs  annually  sent  into 
the  temperate  zones,  from  the  Artie  regions.  The  whole 
Artie  circles  are  covered  with  snow  and  ice,  and  the  atmos- 
phere presents  a  perpetual  winter. 

Every  one  who  has  crossed  the  Atlantic  ocean,  must 
have  more  or  less  experience  and  knowledge  of  icebergs. 
Very  ,often  the  reminiscences  connected  with  them  are  of 
an  unpleasant  nature — for  many  a  noble  vessel  has  gone 
down  in  the  fathomless  deep  by  too  close  a  contact  with 
them.  A  passenger  on  the  steamer  Persia,  writing  to  a 
journal  in  Mobile,  details  some  of  the  incidents  of  such  a 
voyage,  and  the  allusion  to  icebergs  being  apropos,  I  will 
here  introduce  an  extract : 


"Then  came  fog,  fog  for  three  days  and  nights,  until  one  thousand 
miles  were  passed — Cape  Race  and  the  banks  of  Newfoundland.  Here 
the  air  began  to  be  very  cold,  requiring  thick  winter  clothing,  and  indica- 
ting that  we  were  approaching  the  region  of  icebergs.  Sure  enough,  on 
the  afternoon  of  the  9th,  while  we  were  at  dinner,  the  cry  of  "icebergs" 
was  heard  through  the  cabin  (a  convenient  excuse  for  many  to  leave  the 
table,  as  the  sea  was  a  little  rough) !  We  rushed  on  deck,  and  there,  far 
away,  was  a  dim  mass  of  white  substance,  which  we  could  not  distinguish 
from  land;  then  another  came,  very  large  and  grand,  about  ten  miles  dis- 
tant— a  grand  mountain  of  ice,  like  a  huge,  bold  promontory,  jutting  out 
into  the  wild  waste  of  waters,  while  the  waves  dashed  in  foam  and  spray 
upon  its  cold  and  barren  sides.  Then  the  sunlight  flashed  over  its  glassy 
heights  with  a  dazzling  brilliance,  reflecting  all  the  colors  of  the  rainbow, 
from  peak  to  peak,  until  the  mass  passed  into  a  shadow,  and  then  appeared 
like  a  great  mountain  of  snow,  of  the  purest  whiteness,  untouched  by  that 
which  defiles  and  darkens.  To  one  we  passed  within  half  a  mile,  and 
could  with  great  distinctness  see  its  huge  sides  cut  into  ridges  and 
gullies,  by  the  streams  that  were  trickling  down  to  the  ocean;  on  the 
summit  there  seemed  the  form  of  a  house ;  indeed,  there  was  any  thing 


394        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

there  that  the  imagination  could  picture  out  of  such  fantastic  shapes  and 
strange  appearances.  The  cold  gushes  of  wind  that  swept  the  ice-fielda 
came  over  our  vessel  like  wintry  blasts,  producing  the  most  intense  cold. 
These  are  the  strange  visitors  from  the  unknown  regions  of  the  in- 
hospitable North  that  break  away  from  the  icy  fetters  of  their  frozen 
continents,  drifting  down  by  current  and  breeze,  seeking  the  warm 
gushes  of  the  treacherous  sunlight  of  a  milder  clime,  which  deceives  their 
confidence,  and  before  the  huge  ice-monsters  become  conscious  of  this 
snare  into  which  they  have  incontinently  drifted,  the  warm  embraces  of 
an  enemy  are  around  them,  melting  away  their  proud  significance  into 
the  common  level  of  the  waters." 

When  icebergs  contain  imbedded  rocks,  and  are  thrust 
against  the  edges  of  rocky  promontories  and  cliffs,  they 
polish  the  surface,  and  leave  long  parallel  grooves  and 
scratches.  Many  of  the  rocks  of  previous  formations, 
occupying  the  sides  and  summits  of  mountains,  having 
been  submerged  during  the  flood,  have  their  peaks 
rounded  and  their  surface  smoothed  for  many  miles  by 
the  masses  of  ice  and  debris  which  floated  over  them. 


"  The  recent  polishing  and  striation  of  limestone  by  coast-ice»  canning 
boulders  even  as  far  south  as  the  coast  of  Denmark,  has  been  observed  by 
Dr.  Forchbaumer,  and  helps  us  to  conceive  how  large  icebergs,  running 
aground  on  the  bed  of  the  sea,  may  produce  similar  furrows  on  a  grander 
scale.  An  account  was  given,  so  long  ago  as  1822,  by  Scoresby,  of  ice- 
bergs seen  by  him  drifting  along  in  latitudes  69°  and  70°  north,  which 
rose  above  the  surface  from  one  to  two  hundred  feet,  and  measured  from 
a  few  yards  to  a  mile  in  circumference.  Many  of  them  were  loaded  with 
beds  of  earth  and  rock,  of  such  thickness  that  the  weight  was  conjectured 
to  be  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  thousand  tons.*  A  similar  transportation 
of  rocks  is  known  to  be  in  progress  in  the  Southern  Hemisphere,  where 
boulders  included  in  the  ice  are  far  more  frequent  than  in  the  north.  One 
of  these  icebergs  was  encountered  in  1839,  in  mid-ocean,  in  the  antarctio 
regions,  many  hundred  miles  from  any  known  land,  sailing  northwards, 
with  a  large  erratic  block  firmly  frozen  into  it.  In  order  to  understand 
in  what  manner  long  and  straight  grooves  may  be  cut  by  such  agency, 
we  must  remember  that  these  floating  islands  of  ice  have  a  singular  steadi- 
ness of  motion,  in  consequence  of  the  larger  portion  of  their  bulk  being 

*  Lyell's  Elements  of  Geology,  p.  122. 


DR.    KANE   IN   THE   ARCTIC   REGIONS.  395 

sunk  deep  under  water,  so  that  they  are  not  perceptibly  moved  hy  the 
winds  and  waves,  even  in  the  strongest  gales.  Maury  had  supposed  that 
the  magnitude  commonly  attributed  to  icebergs  by  unscientific  navi- 
gators was  exaggerated ;  but  now  it  appears  that  the  popular  estimate  of 
their  dimensions  has  rather  fallen  within  than  beyond  the  truth.  Many 
of  them,  carefully  measured  by  the  officers  of  the  French  Exploring  Ex- 
pedition of  the  Astrolabe,  were  between  one  hundred  and  two  hundred 
and  twenty-five  feet  high  above  water,  and  from  two  to  Jive  miles  in  length. 
Captain  D'Urville  ascertained  one  of  them,  which  he  saw  floating  in  the 
Southern  Ocean,  to  be  thirteen  miles  long  and  one  hundred  feet  high, 
with  perfectly  vertical  walls.  The  submerged  portions  of  such  islands 
must,  according  to  the  weight  of  ice  relatively  to  sea-water,  be  from  six 
to  eight  times  more  considerable  than  the  part  which  is  visible,  so  that 
the  mechanical  power  they  exert,  when  fairly  set  in  motion,  must  be 
prodigious." 

Persons  living  in  the  temperate  zones  can  entertain  but 
a  feeble  idea  of  the  extent  and  power  of  the  glacial  influ- 
ences of  the  polar  regions.  Much  information  has  recently 
been  obtained  from  the  explorations  of  the  late  Dr.  Kane, 
who,  for  three  years,  sailed  through  towering  icebergs,  or 
was  hemmed  in  during  the  winter  by  frozen  seas,  and 
glacial  precipices,  and  lands  whose  dust  was  drifted  snow, 
and  whose  rocks  were  massive  ribs  of  ice.  His  little  crew 
were  sometimes  reduced  to  the  last  stages  of  human  en- 
durance, suffering,  starvation,  and  disease,  in  a  climate 
where  the  breath  of  man's  nostrils  would  congeal,  and  his 
blood  stagnate  into  torpidity.  Even  in  the  month  of 
August,  they  were  frozen  in  for  the  ensuing  winter  while 
attempting  to  reach  the  settlements  of  Greenland,  after 
having  delineated  nearly  one  thousand  miles  of  coast- 
line. The  amount  of  travel  to  effect  this  exploration 
exceeded  two  thousand  miles,  and  was  performed  solely 
on  foot  and  by  dog-teams. 

'•'  On  one  occasion,  during  this  coast-exploration,"  says  Doctor  Kane, 
"we  were  made  aware  of  a  remarkable  feature  of  our  travel.*     We  were 

*  Arctic  Explorations,  vol.  i.  p.  92. 


396        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

on  a  table  or  shelf  of  ice,  which  clung  to  the  base  of  the  rocks  overlooking 
the  sea,  but  itself  overhung  by  steep  and  lofty  cliffs.  Pure  and  beautiful 
as  this  icy  highway  was,  huge  angular  blocks,  some  many  tons  in  weight, 
were  scattered  over  its  surface ;  and  long  tongues  of  worn-down  rock  oc- 
casionally issued  from  the  sides  of  the  cliffs,  and  extended  across  our 
course.  The  cliffs  measured  one  thousand  and  ten  feet  to  the  crest  of  the 
plateau  above  them.  They  were,"  adds  Dr.  K.,  in  a  note,  "  they  were  of 
tubular  ma-gnesian  limestone,  with  interlaid  and  inferior  sandstone. 
Their  height,  measured  to  the  crest  of  the  plateau,  was  nine  hundred  and 
fifty  feet— a  fair  mean  of  the  profile  of  the  coast.  The  height  of  the  tnlus 
of  debris,  where  it  united  with  the  face  of  the  cliff,  was  five  hundred  nml 
ninety  feet,  and  its  angle  of  inclination  between  38°  and  45°."  "  We 
pushed  forward  on  this  ice-table  shelf  as  rapidly  as  the  obstacles  would 
permit,  though  embarrassed  a  good  deal  by  the  frequent  water-course?, 
which  created  large  gorges  in  our  path,  winding  occasionally,  and  gener- 
ally steep-sided.  We  had  to  pass  our  sledge  carefully  down  such  inter- 
ruptions, and  bear  it  upon  our  shoulders,  wading,  of  course,  through  water 
of  an  exceedingly  low  temperature."  .  .  .  "On  the  1st  of  September, 
still  following  the  ice-belt,  we  found  that  we  were  entering  the  recesses 
of  another  bay  but  little  smaller  than  that  in  which  we  had  left  our  brig. 
The  limestone  walls  ceased  to  overhang  us;  we  reached  a  low  fiord,  and  a 
glacier  blocked  our  way  across  it.  A  succession  of  terraces,  rising  with 
symmetrical  regularity,  lost  themselves  in  long  parallel  lines  in  the  dist- 
ance. They  were  of  limestone  shingle,  and  wet  with  the  percolation  of 
the  melted  ice  of  the  glacier.  Where  the  last  of  these  terraced  faces 
abutted  upon  the  sea,  it  blended  with  the  ice-foot,  so  as  to  make  a  frozen 
compound  of  rock  and  ice.  Here,  lying  in  a  pasty  silt,  J.  found  the  skele- 
ton of  a  musk  ox.  The  head  was  united  to  the  atlas;  but  the  bones  of  the 
spine  were  separated  about  two  inches  apart,  and  conveyed  the  idea  of  a 
displacement  produced  rather  by  the  sliding  of  the  bed  beneath,  than  by 
a  force  from  without.  The  paste,  frozen  so  as  to  resemble  limestone 
rock,  had  filled  the  costal  cavity,  and  the  ribs  were  beautifully  polished. 
It  was  to  the  eye  an  imbedded  fossil,  ready  for  the  museum  of  the  col- 
lector. ...  I  am  minute  in  detailing  these  appearances,  for  they 
connect  themselves  in  my  mind  with  the  fossils  of  the  Eischoltz  cliffs  and 
the  Siberian  alluvions.  I  was  startled  at  the  facility  with  which  the 
fi/icious-  limestone,  under  the  alternate  energies  of  frost  and  thaw,  had  been 
incorporated  with  the  organic  remains.  It  had  already  begun  to  alter  the 
structure  of  the  bones,  aud  in  several  instances  the  vertebras  were  entirely 
enveloped  in  travertin.  The  table-lands  and  ravines  round  about  this 
coast  abottd  in  such  remains.  Their  numbers,  and  the  manner  in  which 
they  are  scattered,  imply  that  the  animals  made  their  migrations  in 
droves,  as  is  the  case  with  the  reindeer  now.  Within  the  area  of  a  few 


DR.    KANE   IN   THE   ARCTIC   REGIONS.  397 

acres,  we  found  seven  skeletons  and  numerous  skulls;  these  all  occupied 
the  snow-streams  or  gullies  that  led  to  a  gorge  opening  on  the  ice-belt, 
and  might  thus  be  gathered  in  time  to  one  spot,  by  the  simple  action  of 
the  water-shed."  In  a  note,  Dr.  K.  adds,  "A  reindeer  skull  found  in  the 
same  gorge  was  completely  fossilized.  That  the  snow  waters  around 
Rensselaer  Harbor  held  large  quantities  of  carbonate  of  lime  in  solution, 
was  proved  not  only  by  the  tufaceous  deposit  which  incrusted  the  masses, 
but  by  actual  tests.  The  broken  down  magnesian  limestones  of  the  upper 
plateau  readily  explain  this."  .  .  On  the  4th  of  September,  in  detail- 
ing the  incidents  of  the  day  or  two  previous,  the  Doctor  again  remarks 
in  a  note:  "  This  halt  was  under  the  lee  of  a  large  boulder  of  greenstone, 
measuring  fourteen  feet  in  its  long  diameter.  It  had  the  rude  blocking 
out  of  a  cube,  but  was  rounded  at  the  edges.  The  country  for  fourteen 
miles  around  was  of  the  low-bottom  series;  the  nearest  greenstone  must 
have  been  ma-ny  miles  remote.  Boulders  of  syenite  were  numerous ;  their 
line  of  deposit  nearly  due  north  and  south." 

"Our  progress  on  the  5th  was  arrested 'by  another  bay  much  larger 
than  any  we  had  seen  since  entering  Smith's  Straits.  It  was  a  noble 
sheet  of  water,  perfectly  open,  and  thus  in  strange  contrast  to  the  ice  out- 
side. The  cause  of  this,  at  the  time,  inexplicable  phenomenon,  was  found 
in  a  roaring  and  tumultuous  river,  which,  issuing  from  a  fiord  at  the  inm-r 
sweep  of  the  bay,  rolled  with  the  violence  of  a  snow-torrent  over  a  broken 
bed  of  rocks.  This  river,  the  largest  probably  yet  known  in  North 
Greenland,  was  about  three  quarters  of  a  mile  wide  at  its  mouth,  and  , 
admitted  the  tides  for  about  three  miles;  when  its  bed  rapidly  ascended, 
and  could  be  traced  by  the  configuration  of  the  hills  as  far  as  a  largo 
inner  fiord.  I  called  it  Mary  Minturn  river,  after  the  sister  of  Mr.  Henry 
Grinnell.  Its  course  was  afterward  pursued  to  an  interior  glacier,  from 
the  base  of  which  it  was  found  to  issue  in  numerous  streams,  that  united 
in  a  single  trunk  about  forty  miles  from  its  mouth.  .  .  I  shall  never 
forget  the  sight,  when,  after  a  hard  day's  walk,  I  looked  out  from  an  al- 
titude of  eleven  hundred  feet  upon  an  expanse  extending  beyond  the 
eightieth  parallel  of  latitude.  Far  off  on  my  left  was  the  western  shore 
of  the  Sound,  losing  itself  in  distance  toward  the  north.  To  my  right,  a 
rolling  primary  country  led  on  to  a  low,  dusky,  wall-like  ridge,  which  I 
afterward  recognized  as  the  great  Glacier  of  Humboldt ;  and  still  beyond 
this,  reaching  northward  from  the  north-northeast,  was  the  land  which 
now  bears  the  name  of  Washington.  .  .  The  great  area  between  was 
a  solid  sea  of  ice.  Close  along  its  shore,  almost  looking  down  upon  it 
from  the  crest  of  our  lofty  station,  we  could  see  the  long  lines  of  horn- 
mocks  dividing  the  floes  like  the  trenches  of  a  beleaguered  city.  Fur- 
ther out,  a  stream  of  icebergs,  increasing  in  number  as  they  receded, 
showed  an  almost  impenetrable  barrier;  since  I  could  not  doubt  that 


398        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

among  their  recesses  the  ice  was  so  crushed  as  to  be  impassable  by  the 
sledge."  In  a  note,  in  explanation  of  the  previous  remark  that  llutn~ 
boldt  Glacier  connected  the  two  continents  of  America  and  Greenland, 
the  Doctor  observes  that  all  "Arctic  America,  north  of  Dolphin  and 
Union  Straits,  is  broken  up  into  large  insular  masses,  and  may  be  con- 
sidered as  a  vast  archipelago."  "  Grinnell  land,"  he  says,  "cannot  be  re- 
garded as  part  of  the  continent  of  America;  while  Washington  land 
seems,  in  physical  character  and  position,  to  be  a  sort  of  middle 
ground." 

In  the  second  volume  of  Dr.  Kane's  Arctic  Explorations, 
page  146,  some  interesting  phenomena  touching  glaciers, 
are  described. 

"The  bend  of  this  glacier,  (that  named  after  Humboldt,)  is  a  few  de- 
grees to  the  west  of  north.  We  followed  its  face  afterward,  edging  in  for 
the  Greenland  coast,  about  the  rocky  archipelago  which  I  have  named 
after  the  Advance.  From  one  of  these  rugged  islets,  the  nearest  to  the 
glacier  which  could  be  approached  with  any  thing  like  safety,  I  could 
see  another  island,  larger  and  closer  in  shore,  already  half  covered  by  the 
encroaching  face  of  the  glacier,  and  great  masses  of  ice  still  detaching 
themselves,  and  splintering  as  they  fell  upon  that  portion  which  protruded. 
Kepose  was  not  the  characteristic  of  this  seemingly  solid  mass ;  every 
feature  indicated  activity,  energy,  movement.  The  surface  seemed  to 
follow  that  of  the  basis-country  over  which  it  flowed.  It  was  undulating 
about  the  horizon,  but  as  it  descended  toward  the  sea,  it  represented  a 
broken  plain,  with  a  general  inclination  of  some  nine  degrees,  still  dimin- 
ishing toward  the  foreground.  Crevasses,  in  the  distance  mere  wrinkles, 
expanded  as  they  came  nearer,  and  were  crossed  almost  at  right  angles 
by  long  continuous  lines  of  fracture,  parallel  with  the  face  of  the  glacier. 
These  lines,  too,  scarcely  traceable  in  the  far  distance,  widened  as  they 
approached  the  sea,  until  they  formed  a  gigantic  stairway.  It  seemed  as 
though  the  ice  had  lost  its  support  below,  and  that  the  mass  was  let  down 
from  above  in  a  series  of  steps.  Such  an  action,  owing  to  the  heat  derived 
from  the  soil,  the  excessive  surface  drainage,  and  the  constant  abrasion 
of  the  sea,  must  in  reality  take  place.  .  .  .  The  indication  of  a  great  pro- 
pelling agency  seemed  to  be  just  commencing  at  the  time  Iwas  observing 
it.  These  split-off  lines  of  ice  were  evidently  in  motion,  pressed  on  by 
those  behind,  but  still  widening  their  fissures,  as  if  the  impelling  action 
was  more  and  more  energetic  nearer  the  water,  till  at  last  they  flouted 
away  in  the  form  of  ice-bergs.  Long  files  of  these  detached  masses  could 
be  traced  slowly  sailing  off  into  the  distance,  their  separation  marked  by 
dark  parallel  shadows — broad  and  spncious  avenues  near  the  eye,  but 


THE  HUMBOLDT  GLACIER.  39 

narrowed  in  the  perspective  to  mere  lines.  A  more  impressive  illuslr-  - 
tion  of  the  forces  of  Nature  can  hardly  be  conceived. 

Regarded  upon  a  large  scab,  I  am  satisfied  that  the  iceberg  is  not  dis- 
engaged by  debacle,  as  I  once  supposed.  So  far  from  falling  into  the  sea, 
broken  by  its  weight  from  the  parent  glacier,  itrw«*/roj»  the  wo.  The 
process  is  at  once  gradual  and  comparatively  quiet.  Tha  idea  of  icebergs 
being  discharged,  so  universal  among  systematic  writers,  and  so  recently 
admitted  by  myself,  seems  to  me  now  at  variance  with  the  regulated  and 
progressive  actions  of  Nature,  psveloped  by  such  ft  process,  the  thou- 
sand, of  bergs  which  throng  these  seas,  should  keep  the  air  and  water  m 
perpetual  commotion,  one  fearful  succession  of  explosive  detonations  and 
propagated  waves.  But  it  is  only  the  lesser  masses  falling  into  deep 
waters  which  could  justify  the  popular  opinion.  The  enormous  mattes  of 
the  great  glacier  are  propelled,  step  by  step,  and  year  by  year,  until,  reach- 
ing  water  capable  of  supporting  them,  they  are  floated  off  to  be  lott  in  ths 
temperature  of  other  regions. 

"  The  crevasses  bore  the  marks  of  direct  fracture,  and  the  more  gradual 
action  of  surface-drainage.  The  extensive  water-shed  between  their  eon- 
verging  planes,  gave  to  the  icy  surface  most  of  the  hydrographic  feature?: 
of  a  river  system.  The  ice-born  rivers  which  divided  them  irsre  margined 
occasionally  with  spires  of  discolored  ice,  and  generally  lost  themselves  in 
the  central  areas  of  the  glacier  before  reaching  its  foreground.  ...  Th0 
height  of  this  ice-wall,  at  the  nearest  point,  was  about  thrco  buadrad  feet, 
measured  from  the  water's  edge;  and  the  unbroken  right  line  cf  its  dimin- 
ishing perspective  showed  that  this  might  be  regarded  es  its  constant 
measurement  It  seemed,  in  fact,  a  great  icy  table-land,  abutting  with  a 
clean  precipice  against  the  sea."* 

We  have  made  these  extracts  from  the  work  of  the 
lamented  Kane,  our  indomitable  countryman,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  impressing  upon  the  reader  the  extraordinary  ex- 
tent and  nature  of  the  Glacial  mountains,  seas,  and  deserts 
of  the  North  and  South  poles.  No  conception  of  this  can 
well  be  formed  by  persons  who  have  paid  no  previous 
attention  to  the  subject — they  are  not  prepared  to  realize 
the  fact  that,  for  thousands  and  thousands  of  miles,  no- 
thing but  these  stupendous  glaciers,  drifted  snows,  and  ice- 
covered  seas  meet  the  eye  of  the  explorer,  and  the  navi- 
gator. The  glaciers  of  the  Alps  and  of  other  mountains 

*  Arctic  Explorations,  vol.  ii. 
26 


400        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

that  rear  their  peaks  into  the  upper  atmosphere,  although 
extensive,  when  considered  as  belonging  to  latitudes 
strictly  temperate,  are  yet  the  merest  nothings  when 
compared  with  those  of  the  Arctic  zones. 

Now,  it  is  a  singular  fact,  that  after  volcanic  action  had 
comparatively  exhausted  itself  in  the  middle  belts  of  the 
earth,  it  was  transferred  to  the  poles.  Whether  this  was 
due  to  the  fact  that,  after  the  deposition  of  the  great  con- 
tinents, the  polar  circles  became  the  weakest  parts  of  the 
earth's  crust,  or  whether  they  still  retained  their  bituminous 
inflammability,  after  other  districts  had  parted  with  it,  is 
a  question  which  it  would  be  useless  for  me  to  discuss 
here.  But  it  is  nevertheless  true,  that  toward  the  close 
of  the  Tertiary  period  and  the  dawn  of  the  present  geologi- 
cal epoch,  both  the  polar  regions  of  the  globe  simul- 
taneously became  the  theatres  of  the  most  violent  and 
terrific  volcanic  action,  the  effects  of  which  we  propose 
briefly  to  consider. 

Dr.  Kane,  in  the  extracts  we  have  given,  has  sufficiently 
indicated  the  primitive  geological  character  of  the  arctic 
country.  Whenever  he  found  boulders  or  erratic  blocks, 
they  proved  to  be  greenstone,  porphyry,  syenite,  or  amyg- 
daloid. We  have  before  remarked,  in  the  earlier  part  of 
this  work,  the  primary  origin  of  the  entire  northern  por- 
tions of  the  continents  of  America  and.  Asia.  Most  of 
these  regions  remained  undisturbed,  covered  only  with 
accumulating  snows  and  ice,  during  all  the  subsequent 
geological  periods ;  but  after  the  Tertiary,  the  whole 
northwest  coast  of  Greenland,  and  the  northeast  border  of 
Baffin's  Bay,  became  the  theatre  of  the  most  violent 
volcanic  eruptions.  An  uninterrupted  chain  of  extinct 
volcanoes  stretch  all  around,  and  over  the  entire  frozen 
country  explored  by  our  great  geographer — a  country 
which  presented  to  his  feet  the  very  antipodes  of  previous 
heat  and  present  cold.  Nor  was  the  volcanic  action  con- 


THE   ERA   OF    VOLCANIC   ACTION.  401 

fined  to  that  particular  region.  Nearly  every  portion  of 
the  earth,  except  America,  came  more  or  less  under  its 
influence  ;  but,  as  we  observed  before,  the  Arctic  Zones 
were  in  this  instance  the  chief  centres  of  its  operations. 
Along  the  Asiatic  coast  of  the  Pacific,  including  all  the 
islands  outside  of  the  sea  of  Okhotsk,  that  of  Japan,  and 
of  China,  many  thousands  of  small  islands  were  elevated 
above  the  ocean,  most  of  which  were  wholly  unknown 
until  recently,  and  every  day  reveals  new  ones.  Thou- 
sands of  islands,  and  groups  of  islands,  some  of  them  by 
no  means  inconsiderable  in  size,  have  been  thus  redeemed 
from  the  waster  of  waters  since  the  Tertiary  "period,  or 
since  the  creation  of  man.  The  American  coast  is  scarcely 
less  prolific,  but  they  are  all  confined  to  that  of  the  Pacific. 
The  extensive  chain  of  mountains  known  as  the  Andes, 
the  Cordilleras,  and  the  Rocky  mountains,  extending 
through  South  America  to  Oregon,  are  for  the  most  part 
volcanic ;  and  although  they  were  in  action  during 
previous  geological  eras,  they  again  poured  forth  their 
streams  of  lava  after  the  Tertiary,  and  at  irregular  inter- 
vals of  time,  continue  to  do  so  even  now.  The  greater 
portion  of  North  America — in  fact  the  whole  of  it,  with 
the  exception  of  the  extreme  northern  parts,  and  a  narrow 
belt  along  the  Atlantic  slope,  already  mentioned,  was  un- 
affected ;  but  nearly  the  entire  surface  of  Europe  was 
simultaneously  convulsed  and  disruptured  from  one  end 
of  it  to  the  other.  Scotland,  Ireland,  France,  Germany, 
Italy,  Austria,  and  all  the  northern  coast  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean, into  Asia  Minor,  and  thence  east  to  Persia,  was 
an  almost  uninterrupted  theatre  of  volcanic  fury.  The 
Ural  mountains,  and  those  of  the  Altai  ranges  in 
Central  Asia,  were  affected  to  some  extent,  while  nearly 
the  whole  of  India,  and  the  southeastern  slopes  of  the 
Indian  Ocean,  shared  in  a  common  and  almost  universal 
disturbance.  This  was  emphatically  the  era  of  volcanic 


402        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

action,  both  on  the  land  and  beneath  the  seas ;  and  Moses 
says  truly,  that  "  the  fountains  of  the  great  deep  were 
broken  up. "  With  the  single  exception  of  North  America, 
the  volcanoes  were  distributed  all  over  the  world ;  and  in 
many  portions  entire  regions  were  engulfed  in  their 
simultaneous  action.  While  thousands  of  islands  were 
thus  rising  from  the  ocean,  what  was  the  effect  in  the 
polar  circles — among  the  mountains,  deserts,  and  seas  of 
ice  ?  Yolcanic  eruptions  in  these  regions  would,  of 
course,  produce  peculiar  and  extraordinary  effects.  They 
would  not  only  crack  and  split  the  rocks,  but  inject  upward 
the  usual  streams  of  red-hot  liquid  lava.  This,  coming  in 
contact  with  the  exterior  ice  and  snow,  would  hurl  the 
loftiest  glacial  mountains  from  their  base,  and  send  up 
columns  of  boiling  water  into  the  freezing  air.  The  very 
opposites  of  elemental  qualities  would  thus  meet  in  angry 
combat.  Glaciers,  that  reared  their  hoary  beards  into  the 
clouds,  would  be  precipitated  into  the  adjacent  seas — 
while  the  ordinary  water  courses  would  be  swollen  into 
mighty  and  resistless  torrents — carrying  with  them  the 
red-hot  cinders  and  boulders  thown  in  their  way.  Where 
the  heat  was  greatest,  the  ice  and  snow  would  mingle  in 
their  original  fluidity ;  but  in  those  points  less  affected, 
mountains  of  glaciers  would  slide  from  the  heated  rocks, 
and  be  borne  off  into  the  seas.  The  mighty  volume  of 
waters,  now  bearing  thousands  of  these  massive  icebergs, 
loaded  with  earth  and  debris,  are  now  borne  off  by  the 
currents  of  the  ocean,  which  sweep  around  the  continents 
of  Asia,  Africa,  and  America.  Those  of  the  North  Pole 
move  toward  the  south ;  while  those  of  the  South  Pole 
move  toward  the  north.  The  waters  rush  on,  and  as  they 
proceed,  encounter  thousands  of  terrific  volcanoes,  burst- 
ing up  from  the  oceans — "the  fountains  of  the  great 
deep."  The  waters  still  increase — the  gigantic-rock- 
freighted  icebergs  still  multiply  The  atmosphere  of  the 


THE  FLOOD  OVERFLOWING  THE  EARTH.       4Q3 

temperate  zones  becomes  suddenly  refrigerated,  while  that 
of  the  poles  is,  for  a  time,  moderated.  The  dense  moisture 
of  the  icebergs  envelops  the  world  in  fogs  and  vapor. 
The  clouds  of  thick  sulphurous  mist,  rise  higher  and 
higher,  while  the  icebergs  still  pour  in  with  every  suc- 
ceeding .  wave.  The  moisture  is  rarified  in  universal 
auroras ;  electricity  is  generated ;  heaven's  artillery  pre- 
pares to  enter  the  elemental  strife,  and  detonates  its 
threatening  thunder.  Anon  the  "windows  of  heaven  are 
opened,"  and  then  descends  rain  in  ceaseless  torrents. 
Still  the  waters  rise  higher  and  higher — still  the  long 
islands  of  icebergs,  laden  with  rocks,  and  trees,  and  mud, 
pour  in  from  the  north  and  the  south — still  the  waters 
are  enveloped  in  dense  vapor — while  in  terrific  and  over- 
whelming showers — 

"The  impetuous  rain  descends, 
Nor  from  his  patrimonial  heaven  alone 
Is  Jove  content  to  pour  his  vengeance  down ; 
But  from  his  brother  of  the  seas  he  craves 
To  help  him  with  auxiliary  waves. 
Then  with  his  mace  the  monarch  struck  the  ground, — 
With  inward  trembling  earth  received  the  wound, 
And  rising  streams  a  ready  passage  found. 
Now  seas  and  earth  were  in  confusion  lost, — 
A  world  of  waters,  and  without  a  coast." 

The  crust  of  the  earth  now  quakes  and  shudders,  while 
bleeding  red-hot  scoriae,  from  ten  thousand  gaping  pores. 
The  expansive  force  of  the  exploding  gases — the  continu- 
ous upward  pressure  of  the  volcanic  currents,  draws  the 
water  secreted  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth  to  the  surface  ; 
all  the  reservoirs  are  broken  up,  and  the  strata  become  dis- 
jointed, twisted,  and  melted.  The  fusion  of  the  cavernous 
and  disjointed  rocks,  occasions  their  subsequent  contrac- 
tion and  solidification,  while  the  waters  themselves  having 
suddenly  passed  from  icy  coldness  to  that  of  boiling  heat, 


404        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

expand  to  nearly  twice  their  usual  volume.  The  disrup- 
turing  of  the  earth,  and  of  the  floor  of  the  sea,  thus 
liberating  the  boiling  water  and  liquid  lava  of  the  volcanoes, 
added  immeasurably  to  the  extent  of  the  flood,  while  the 
subsequent  subsidence  and  solidification  of  the  interior 
crust  of  the  earth,  caused  the  whole  surface  of  the  earth  to 
be  overflowed !  The  "  fountains  of  the  great  deep  are 
broken  up"  indeed,  and  water,  in  its  most  powerful,  ex- 
cited, and  irresistible  form,  again  sweeps  over  the  land, 
and  asserts  its  dominion  in  the  air  !  The  mountains,  none 
of  which  had  yet  attained  their  full-grown  height  (the 
Alps,  the  Himalaya,  the  Altai,  the  Urals,  Andes,  Alle- 
ghanies — all  were  growing  in  altitude  with  the  varying 
movements  that  originally  raised  them  up),  were  now 
covered  by  the  triumphant  waves.  Neptune,  enthroned 
in  clouds  of  rain,  with  his  brother  Jove,  reigned  supreme 
over  the  sea,  earth,  and  air ! 

The  people  of  the  Eastern  and  Middle  States  are  all 
familiar  with  the  action  of  ice-freshets  upon  their  rivers — 
such  as  the  Ohio,  the  Potomac,  the  Susquehanna,  the 
Penobscot,  Connecticut,  etc.  The  sources  of  these  rivers 
are  in  the  mountains,  which,  during  the  winter,  accumu- 
late deposits  of  snow.  In  the  spring,  when  the  sun  sends 
forth  his  rays  to  waken  nature  from  her  torpor,  these 
snows  are  melted.  The  water,  pouring  into  the  main 
river  from  a  thousand  swollen  rivulets,  produces  a  sudden 
enlargement.  The  ice  that  covered  the  streams  during 
the  winter  is  also  suddenly  broken  up  by  the  influx  of 
waters,  and  then  hurried  down  the  agitated  stream. 
Where  the  river  contracts  between  high  banks  or  hills, 
the  ice  gorges  or  wedges  itself  across  the  channel.  For 
a  time,  the  ice  and  water  are  both  arrested,  and  then  flow 
back,  overleaping  the  shores,  and  forming  a  succession  of 
steps  and  terraces.  When  the  river  has  accumulated  suf- 
ficient water  to  break  through  or  override  the  narrow 


FLOODS   IN   RIVERS   AND   OCEANS.  405 

obstruction,  the  whole  mass  again  moves  forward,  and 
bears  along  with  it  trees,  rocks,  fences,  and  sometimes 
stables,  houses,  and  bridges.  These  freshets  occur  in 
nearly  every  river  on  the  globe.  "  The  effusion  of  only  a 
part  of  the  ices  of  the  Cordilleras  in  Peru,"  says  St.  Pierre, 
in  his  Studies  of  Nature,  "  is  sufficient  to  produce  an  an- 
nual overflow  of  the  Amazon,  of  the  Orinoco,  and  of  sev- 
eral other  great  rivers  of  the  New  World,  and  to  inundate 
a  great  portion  of  Brazil,  of  Guiana,  and  of  the  Terra 
Fir  ma  of  America ;  that  the  melting  of  part  of  the  snows 
on  the  Mountains  of  the  Moon,  in  Africa,  occasions  every 
year  the  inundations  of  Senegal,  contributes  to  those  of 
the  Nile,  and  overflows  vast  tracts  of  country  in  Guinea, 
and  the  whole  of  Lower  Egypt ;  and  that  similar  effects 
are  annually  reproduced  in  a  considerable  part  of  Southern 
Asia,  in  the  kingdoms  of  Bengal,  of  Siam,  of  Pegu,  and 
of  Cochin- China,  and  in  the  districts  watered  by  the 
Tigris,  the  Euphrates,  and  many  other  rivers  of  Asia,  which 
have  their  sources  in  chains  of  mountains  perpetually 
covered  with  ice,  namely,  Taurus  and  Imaus."*  It  may 
be  assumed  that  what  the  occasional  extraordinary  over- 
flows of  these  rivers  are  to  the  particular  regions  which 
they  drain,  are  the  still  rarer  overflows  of  oceans  in  respect 
to  the  continents  which  they  drain.  The  parallel  between 
them  may  be  wide,  but  it  is  nevertheless  correct ;  for  while 
the  flo6ds  of  rivers  are  more  frequent,  those  of  oceans,  we 
are  well  assured  by  geology,  have  been  no  less  regular 
and  periodical. 

But  what  evidence  have  we  of  the  submergence  of  the 
mountains  ?  We  have,  first,  the  evidence  of  the  Bible, 
which  is  reliable  beyond  all  other  evidence — beyond  the 
evidence  even  of  our  eyes  and  senses ;  because  all  these 
organs  may  and  do  deceive  us,  but  the  Bible  never.  Seo 

*  Studies  of  Nature,  by  Bernardin  St.  Pierre. 


406        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

ondly,  we  have  the  evidence  of  Nature,  also  a  reliable 
witness ;  and  thirdly,  the  traditions  of  man  himself,  in  all 
parts  of  the  earth.  All  these  declare  the  universality  of 
the  flood,  and  that  all  the  mountains  were  alike  over- 
flowed. 

The  Bible,  however,  does  not  avee  that  all  the  moun  • 
tains  overflowed  by  the  deluge  were  as  high  as  they  are 
now;  nor,  aside  from  the  flood,  have  we  any  reason  to 
suppose  that  they  were.  The  Himalaya  range,  we  have 
reason  to  believe,  did  not  exist  as  mountains  before  the 
Tertiary;  neither  did  the  Alps.  The  Alleghanies  rose 
after  the  Carboniferous  era;  but  their  rise  was  also 
gradual :  and  so,  with  but  a  few  exceptions,  was  that  of 
nearly  all  the  lofty  mountains  of  the  earth.  The  earth 
itself  was  not  made  in  a  day  ;  and  it  would  be  the  height 
of  nonsense  to  claim  that  the  mountains,  which  form  its 
ribbed  axes,  were. 

But  granting,  for  the  sake  of  argument,  that  all  the  moun- 
tains before  the  flood  were  as  high  as  they  are  now — what 
is  gained  ?  All  the  mountains  are  or  were  covered  with 
diluvioa — most  of  them  with  erratic  boulders,  and  the 
moraines  of  icebergs.  How  are  we  to  explain  this  phe- 
nomenon ?  Geologists,  with  universal  accord,  assume 
fhat  fee  mountains  have  been  sunk  under  the  level  of  the 
sea,  and  then  again  elevated.  In  some  instances,  indeed, 
this  supposed  subsidence  and  elevation  has  occurred  re- 
peatectiy,  at  long  geological  intervals — for  in  no  other  way 
can  the  alternation  of  marine,  land,  and  fresh-water  strata 
bo  accounted  for.  In  truth,  most  geologists  assign  greater 
stability  to  the  seas  than  to  terra  fir  ma.  "  While  we 
IM>TO  no  evidence,"  says  High  Miller,  "  that  the  sea-level 
hs3  changed  during  at  least  the  ages  of  the  Tertiary  for- 
mations, and  absolutely  know  that  it  could  no';  Iiave  varied 
more  than  a  few  yards,  or  at  most  a  few  fathoms,  we  have 
direct  evidence  that  during  that  time  great  mountain 


SUBMERGENCE   OP   CONTINENTS.  40 T 

chains,  many  thousand  feet  in  height,  such  as  the*  Alps, 
have  arisen  from  the  bottom  of  the  ocean,  and  that  great 
continents  have  sunk  beneath  it  and  disappeared.  The 
larger  parts  of  Northern  Europe  and  America  have  been 
covered  by  the  sea  since  our  present  group  of  shells  began 
tc  exist.  In  1819,  a  wide  expanse  of  country  in  the 
delta  of  the  Indus,  containing  fully  two  thousand  square 
miles  of  flat  meadow,  was  converted,  by  a  sudden  depres- 
sion accompanied  by  an  earthquake,  into  an  inland  sea. 
About  three  years  after  this  event,  a  tract  of  country  be- 
tween the  Andes  and  the  Pacific,  more  than  equal  to  all 
Great  Britain  in  area,  was  elevated  from  two  to  seven  feet 
over  its  former  level,  and  rocks  laid  bare  in  the  sea,  which 
the  pilots  and  fishermen  of  the  coast  had  never  before 
seen."* 

The  sea  appears  to  be  receding  from  the  shores  of 
Sweden  at  the  rate  of  four  vertical  feet  per  century  ;  while 
on  the  coasts  of  Greenland  (as  also  remarked  by  Dr. 
Kane)  it  appears  to  be  advancing  at  a  rate  somewhat 
more  considerable.  But  while  Miller  and  all  cotemporary 
geologists  thus  assume  the  repeated  subsidence  and  sub- 
mergence of  elevated  plateaux,  mountain  ranges,  and  vast 
continents,  none  of  them  attribute  any  operating  or  aux- 
iliary effects  to  the  flood.  The  sea,  they  maintain,  is 
stationary,  and,  with  the  exception  of  its  tidal  variations, 
always  maintains  its  level.  Both  geologists  and  Christian- 
Infidels  (if  I  may  coin  a  severe  term)  therefore  unite  in 
elaborating  very  ingenious  but  very  flimsy  pretexts  to 
utterly  destroy  the  idea  of  a  universal  deluge,  and  with 
it  all  the  co-ordinate  ideas  of  a  primary  central  creation 
of  man  and  animals,  and  several  other  leading  doctrinal 
pillars  of  Revelation.  They  would  thus  pull  down  tho 
whole  fabric  of  Christian  faith  under  the  pretext  of  "  har- 

*  Hugh  Miller,  Testimony  of  the  Hocks. 


408         THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

monizing"  Revelation  with  Geology  !  The  foundation  of 
their  argument  against  the  universality  of  the  deluge 
amounts  to  this  :  that  there  was  an  insufficiency  of  water. 
They  all  tell  us  that  the  whole  earth  originated  from  the 
deep,  and  that  continents  were  afterward  repeatedly  sub- 
merged; but,  in  the  case  of  this  particular  flood,  there 
could  not  have  been  sufficient  water  to  cover  the  high 
mountains  !  This,  to  be  plain,  is  nothing  but  the  argu- 
ment of  fools  !  Besides  which,  it  betrays  the  most  con- 
summate hypocrisy. 

In  his  account  of  Canada  and  the  United  States,  in 
1845,  Sir  Charles  Lyell  announced  the  conclusion  to  which 
he  had  then  arrived,  "  that  to  explain  the  position  of  the 
erratics,  and  the  polished  surfaces  of  rocks,  and  their 
striae  and  flutings,  we  must  assume  first  a  gradual  sub- 
mergence of  the  land  in  North  America,  after  it  had  ac- 
quired its  present  outline  of  hill  and  valley,  cliff  and 
ravine,  and  then  its  re-emergence  from  the  ocean.  When 
the  land  was  slowly  sinking,  the  sea  which  Bordered  it 
was  covered  with  islands  of  floating  ice,  coming  from  the 
north,  which,  as  they  grounded  on  the  coast  and  on  shoals, 
pushed  along  such  loose  materials  of  sand  and  pebbles  as 
lay  strewed  over  the  bottom.  By  this  force  all  angular 
and  projecting  points  were  broken  off,  and  fragments  of 
hard  stone,  frozen  into  the  lower  surface  of  the  ice,  had 
power  to  scoop  out  grooves  in  the  subjacent  solid  rock. 
The  sloping  beach,  as  well  as  the  floor  of  the  ocean,  might 
be  polished  and  scored  by  this  machinery  ;  but  no  flood 
of  water,  however  violent,  or  however  great  the  quantity 
of  detritus  or  size  of  the  rocky  fragments  swept  along  by 
it,  could  produce  such  long,  perfectly  straight  and  parallel 
furrows,  as  are  everywhere  visible  in  the  Niagara  dis- 
trict, and  generally  in  the  region  north  of  the  40th  parallel 
of  latitude." 

The  principles  of  continental  subsidence  here  presented, 


UNIVERSALITY   OF   THE   FLOOD   PROVED.  40  9 

the  distinguished  writer  also  applies  to  Europe,  and 
argues  the  case  at  considerable  length.  But,  it  will  be 
observed,  he  could  not  restrain  a  passing  kick  at  the  No- 
achian  flood — "no  flood  of  water,  however  great  the 
quantity  of  its  detritus,  could  produce  such  long  and  par- 
allel furrows  in  the  subjacent  rock."  "This,"  he  says, 
"  was  the  work  of  icebergs  ;" — and  who,  for  one  moment, 
disputes  it  ?  Does  the  Bible  say  or  intimate,  that  there 
could  have  been  no  icebergs  ?  Still  less  does  the  Bible 
intimate  that  there  was  no  sinking  down  of  continents. 
Water  was  wanted  ;  a  universal  deluge  was  decreed  ;  and 
it  was  therefore  necessary  to  "  break  up  the  fountains  of 
the  great  deep,"  not  only  to  obtain  icebergs,  but  water  in 
every  form  in  which  it  existed  on  the  earth  or  in  the 
air. 

The  subsidence  of  entire  continents  is  thus  admitted, 
not  only  by  one,  but  by  all  geologists,  properly  so  called. 
Many  of  them,  as  I  said  before,  demand  the  submergence 
of  continents  and  of  particular  districts,  again  and  again, 
so  as  to  account  for  the  alternation  of  strata.  But  the 
submergence  in  this  case  was  the  most  recent — the  very 
last  that  occurred  on  the  earth.  We  know  that  it  occurred 
during  or  toward  the  close  of  the  Tertiary,  and  we  know 
that  it  has  not  occurred  during  the  present  historic  era  of 
mfti.  The  highest  mountain  ranges  on  the  globe,  as  the 
Himalaya,  the  Alps,  and  the  Andes,  are  strewn  with 
Tertiary  remains,  and  are  scratched  with  Diluvial  ice- 
bergs and  glaciers,  while  their  slopes  and  valleys  are  filled 
loith  boulders  and  moraines.  We  can  thus  trace  the  flood, 
or  the  "breaking  up  of  the  fountains  of  the  deep,"  to  the 
age  of  Noah.  All  co-ordinate  circumstances  lead  directly 
to  that  particular  time ;  and  when  thus  hemmed  in, 
on  all  sides,  there  is  no  longer  any  other  alternative 
but  to  believe  that  it  occurred  exactly  as  the  Bible  describes 
it.  There  is  no  other  alternative. 


410        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

How,  then,  are  we  to  account  for  this  last  submergence 
of  continents  ?     The  geologists  universally  demand  their 
subsidence  and  submergence,  but  they  do  not  volunteer  to 
enlighten  us  as  to  the  modus  operandi.     Lyell  presumes 
that  it  was  "gradual ;"  all  his  theories,  indeed,  are  on  a 
graduated  scale.     I  have  already  intimated  the  cause  to 
which  I  refer  it,  namely,  the  renewal  of  volcanic  action, 
simultaneously,  in  nearly  every  portion   of  the  globe. 
Volcanic  eruptions,  such  as  have  already  been  described, 
would  break  up  the  "  fountains  of  the  deep,"  and  this  was 
the  preliminary  commencement  of  the  flood  that  ensued. 
Expelling  the  water  from  its  subterraneous  caverns,  and 
consolidating  the  strata  in  a  general  fusion  and  contrac- 
tion, would  have  the  effect  of  lowering  the  surf  ace  of  the 
earth,  and  especially  of  the  higher  mountains.     We  must 
constantly  bear  in  mind  that,  while  the  rocky  material 
omposing  the  crust  of  the  earth  is  from  ten  to  fifty  or  a 
hundred  miles  in  thickness,  the  whole  mass  is  extremely 
porous,  and.  like   a   sponge,  becomes   the  receptacle  of 
immense  reservoirs  of  water,  as  already  described.     We 
find  caverns  near  the  surface,  like  those  of  the  Mammoth 
Cave  of  Kentucky,  or  Weyer's,  or  Madison's  in  Virginia, 
extending  from  ten  to  fifty  miles  in  length.     There  are 
many  thousands  such  on  the  earth,  as  yet  unexplored. 
It  is  only  when  they  occur  near  the  surface  that  wejob- 
tain  any  knowledge  of  them  ;    but  we  know,  from  the 
phenomena  of  mineral  and  thermal  springs,  that  many 
others  of  a  similar  character  exist  at  great  depths  in  the 
earth — far  below  the  system  of  rocks  prevailing  near  the 
surface.     The  effect  of  volcanic  action  is  to  expel  the 
water  of  such  caverns  and  fissures,  compress  and  solidify 
the  strata,  and  absorb  their  gases.     At  the  same  time, 
volcanoes  form  the  nucleus  of  all  mountains,  and  throw 
up  islands  in  the  midst  of  the  ocean.     Mountains  are,  in 
'act,  nothing  but  protuberances  on  the  crust  of  the  earth, 


ABSENCE  OF  FOSSILS  IN  THE  DILUVIUM.  411 

and  in  extent,  bear  the  same  relation  to  it  that  a  mere 
cutaneous  pimple  or  boil  bears  to  a  man's  body.  When 
the  blood  becomes  stagnant  and  corrupt,  the  system  en- 
deavors to  expel  the  foul  humors  through  the  pores  of  the 
skin.  This  engenders  fever  or  heat ;  the  body  is  covered 
with  eruptions,  expelling  putrid  matter ;  but  after  such 
eruptions,  the  cuticle  again  resumes  its  natural  position. 
It  is  thus  with  volcanic  mountains.  They  are  protuber- 
ances, emitting  gaseous  matter  from  a  distempered  earth, 
• — upon  the  discharge  of  which  they  relapse,  or  the  crust 
subsides,  until  new  gaseous  secretions  have  accumulated. 
The  natural  springs  of  the  earth  may  be  compared  to  the 
pores  of  man's  skin — since  their  obvious  office  is  to  dis- 
charge the  humors  of  the  interior ;  and  whenever  these 
become  inefficient  or  inadequate,  eruptions  are  certain  to 
follow,  and  the  fluid  vessels  of  the  earth  are  proportion- 
ally depleted.  Thus  whole  continents  are  lowered,  and 
again  elevated  by  expansion  ;  and  this,  we  have  every 
reason  to  infer,  was  the  condition  of  the  earth  during  the 
Noachian  deluge. 

But,  say  the  doubters :  if  continents  were  submerged, 
during  the  era  of  man,  the  diluvium  should  contain  his  re- 
mains and  those  of  his  associate  animals ;  whereas,  there 
is  a  very  evident  scarcity  or  absence  bf  fossils,  of  every 
description,  in  that  formation.  This,  however,  instead  of 
being  an  objection,  is  only  a  confirmation  of  the  truth  of 
a  previous  remark  of  mine,  viz.,  that  the  land  animals 
outside  of  the  original  circle  of  the  Adamite  creation, 
were  extremely  few,  but  that  all  which  were  outside,  and 
had  no  specific  representatives  in  the  central  creation, 
necessarily  became  utterly  extinct  after  the  deluge.  The 
universality  of  the  flood  is  not  only  indicated  in  this  fact, 
but  it  also  effectually  disproves  the  theory  of  the  plurality 
of  creative  centres,  of  which  some  writers  claim  from  three 
to  six  for  man,  ten  to  fifteen  for  animals,  and  froi 


412        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

to  thirty  for  vegetation  1  If  the  fossils  are  scarce  or 
totally  absent,  (as  they  generally  are,)  in  the  diluvial 
strata,  and  confined  mainly  to  species  extinct,  what  be- 
comes of  the  great  bug  bear  of  Geology,  as  to  the  antedi- 
luvian fauna  having  extended  all  over  the  earth  ?  If  it 
really  extended  over  all  the  continents,  where  are  its  re~ 
mains  to  be  found  ?  If  man  inhabited  America  before 
the  flood,  let  the  geologists  show  us  his  fossil  remains,  or 
traces  of  his  work.  If  the  cotemporary  animals  of  man, 
such  as  were  necessary  to  his  sustenance,  as  the  sheep, 
cattle,  fowls,  horses,  camels,  dogs,  etc., — if  these  inhabited 
America  before  that  event,  be  kind  enough  to  let  us  see 
their  fossil  bones.  I  am  aware  that,  in  South  Carolina, 
a  pretended  discovery  of  such  bones  has  recently  been 
made ;  but  it  will  require  something  more  than  isolated 
and  scattered  teeth  to  demonstrate  that  they  really  be- 
longed to  the  domestic  animals  of  man,  and  that  they 
lived  here  anterior  to  the  Adamite  creation.  Their  re- 
mains, if  genuine,  are  found  in  deposits,  and  under  geo- 
logical circumstances  too  closely  related  to  the  present, 
to  raise  them  to  the  dignity  of  a  position  from  which  to 
contradict  the  order  of  physical  cosmogony  and  the  revela- 
tions of  the  Creator.  There  is  a  large  class  of  "  sensation" 
geologists,  who  are  ever  on  the  qui  vive  for  something 
new  and  startling.  Their  little  pamphlets,  printed  at  their 
own  expense,  but  circulated  under  the  ostensible  auspices 
of  learned  Scientific  Academies,  are  distributed  with  pro- 
fuse liberality,  and  are  almost  invariably  directed  against 
the  common  target — Moses  and  the  order  of  divine  crea- 
tion. If  the  Bible  had  not  been  an  inspired  work,  it 
would  have  been  buried  in  contempt  and  oblivion  many 
centuries  ago ;  but  fortunately,  all  the  assaults  of  the 
devil,  and  the  insidious  pamphlets  of  his  Scientific  coadju- 
tors, only  excite  the  spirit  of  investigation,  which  invari- 
ably discloses  its  solemn  and  benignant  truths  like  the 


GEOLOGICAL   ABSURDITIES.  413 

effulgent  beams  of  the  sun,  peering  through  the  dark  and 
flimsy  mists  of  the  horizon. 

The  extinct  species  of  animals  belonging  to  the  diluvial, 
are  well  known.  They  are  of  a  character  distinct  and  sep- 
arate from  most  of  those  now  living,  although  their  bones 
sometimes  occur  side  by  side.  The  gigantic  Mastodon, 
the  Castoroides  Ohioensis,  the  Myladon,  Capabara,  Meg- 
alonyx,  and  others,  are  strewn  over  the  diluvial  plains  of 
the  South  and  West,  and  sufficiently  attest  the  destructive 
effects  of  the  deluge.  Lyell,  however,  having  found  the 
bones  of  the  Mastodon  in  fluviatile  beds  in  New  York, 
containing  shells  of  the  genera  Melania,  Lymnea,  Planor- 
bis,  Cyclas,  Unio,  etc.,  all  of  recent  and  existing  species, 
goes  on  to  show  that  the  Straits  of  Niagara  cut  through 
these  shell-deposits,  and  that,  therefore,  the  Mastodon 
must  be  of  cotemporary  age  with  the  shells,  and  that  all 
are  more  ancient  than  the  Falls,  the  erosion  or  retrogres- 
sion of  which  he  estimates  at  36,000  years.  All  this  is 
very  astute — very  ingenious ;  but  extremely  absurd. 
Has  it  never  occurred  to  the  distinguished  geologist,  when 
contemplating  the  varied  and  magnificent  phenomena  of 
the  Falls,  upon  which  he  dwells,  in  all  his  books,  with  so 
much  care  and  seeming  pleasure,  that  the  narrow,  deep, 
perpendicular  chasm  which  affords  a  grudging  outlet  to 
the  river,  has  been  repeatedly  choked  up  with  the  ice 
pouring  down  from  the  cold  region  of  the  great  lakes 
which  it  drains  ?  When  thus  choked  up,  the  surrounding 
country  would  be  overflowed,  and  the  lake  of  Erie  would 
expand  greatly  beyond  its  ordinary  extent.  During  these 
repeated  cataclysms,  the  sand  and  clay  in  which  the 
shells  are  found  were  deposited,  and  the  river,  in  point  of 
fact,  never  cut  through  them  at  all — its  narrow  channel 
having  been  previously  cut  through  the  Silurian  lime  and 
shale.  The  surface  is  alluvial,  derived  from  the  lakes  in  the 
form  of  sediment,  and  scattered  over  an  extensive  area  by 


414        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

means  of  small  icebergs  and  muddy  slush,  in  which  the 
shells  themselves  were  transported  and  deposited.  The 
Mastodons,  and  other  extinct  animals  of  the  diluvian  era, 
wandering  over  the  sandy  plains,  laid  down  to  die,  and 
their  bones  were  afterward  covered  up  by  new  accumu- 
lations of  comminuted  mud  and  sand.  Who  has  not  ob- 
served the  sand-banks  deposited  along  the  sloping  shores 
of  rivers  after  a  recent  flood  or  ice-freshet  ?  Sometimes 
they  are  of  great  extent,  and  in  level  districts  invade  the 
adjacent  country  for  many  miles.  The  Mississippi  often 
pours  its  waters,  to  the  depth  of  eight  or  ten  feet,  over  the 
adjacent  prairies,  not  unfrequently  twenty  or  thirty  miles 
from  the  main  channel.  The  sediment  thus  deposited  is 
invariably  strewn  with  the  characteristic  testacea  that  in- 
habit the  river  or  its  numerous  sources.  Now,  if  an  old 
horse  should  lie  down  to  die  on  the  prairies  thus  covered 
with  shells  and  sediment,  and  his  bones  afterward  be 
covered  over  by  new  accessions  of  fluviatile  silt,  no  one 
except  geologists  of  the  Lyell  school,  would  have  the 
hardihood  to  assert  that  the  horse  was  of  the  same  age  as 
the  channel  of  the  Mississippi  1 

The  scarcity  of  animal  species,  therefore,  in  the  diluvial 
sands  of  the  flood,  proves,  if  it  proves  any  thing,  that  there 
was  but  one  original  centre  of  creation,  from  which  but  a 
few  types  had  wandered,  all  of  which  became  extinct  im- 
mediately afterward,  or  were  reproduced  by  the  progenitors 
left  behind  in  the  ark.  Man,  and  all  his  works,  were  con- 
fined to  their  originally  limited  geographical  sphere — the 
exact  location  of  which  it  is  now  impossible  to  determine. 
It  seems,  however,  to  have  been  located  somewhere 
between  the  Red  Sea,  the  Caspian,  the  Black  Sea,  and 
the  Mediterranean.  Some  suppose  it  to  have  been  further 
southeast,  between  the  Red  Sea  and  the  Persian  Gulf,  in 
Syria  or  Arabia ;  while  others,  again,  remove  it  still 
further  east,  into  India.  The  greater  portion  of  these 


THE   ORIGINAL   SEAT   OP   MAN.  415 

countries  is  a  Tertiary  and  modern  formation — having 
been  but  recently  redeemed  from  the  seas  and  lakes  that 
drain  it.  Much  of  it  is  sandy  desert,  or  alluvial  silt, 
poured  from  its  great  rivers,  and  whatever  remains  of  the 
antediluvial  era  were  deposited  over  the  surface,  have 
been  obliterated  by  subsequent  races,  whose  bones  and 
monuments  form  of  themselves  the  most  attractive  objects 
of  antiquarian  research.  In  such  a  region,  forming  one 
uninterrupted  and  exhaustless  museum  of  historical  trea- 
sure, it  would  be  impossible  to  identify  the  relics  of  ages 
so  nearly  joined  together ;  and  hence  the  obscurity  which 
must  forever  surround  the  remains  of  the  Adamite  race. 
The  present  age,  with  all  the  appliances  which  highly  de- 
veloped and  inquiring  mental  capacities  could  bring 
to  bear,  has  yet  found  sufficient  material  upon  which  to 
exercise  its  antiquarian  skill,  in  the  buried  ruins  of  Egypt, 
in  its  catacombs,  pyramids,  palaces,  cities,  and  works  of 
art  and  internal  improvement.  When  this  field  shall  have 
been  exhausted,  another  still  more  ancient,  and  perhaps 
equally  interesting,  may  be  exhumed  from  the  arid  deserts 
that  once  formed  the  estuaries  of  the  Mediterranean,  and 
the  Black,  and  the  Caspian  Seas. 

It  may,  however,  be  worth  while  here  to  observe,  that 
the  hope  of  ever  finding  the  remains  of  the  antediluvian 
race,  aside  from  the  difficulties  already  suggested,  are 
rendered  still  more  remote  from  another  cause.  Before 
the  flood,  the  race  of  man  was  necessarily  limited  in  number, 
as  well  as  in  geographical  range.  But  sixteen  centuries 
had  elapsed  from  the  creation  of  Adam — all  of  which, 
judging  from  those  mentioned  in  the  Bible  attained  an 
extraordinary  age.  Consequently  there  could  not  have 
been  many  distinct  generations,  nor  could  any  of  them 
have  reared  works  of  art  of  an  enduring  and  imposing 
character.  Their  lives  were  pastoral,  and  massive  build- 
ings and  monuments  were  unnecessary.  But  few  and 
27 


416        THE  SEVENTH  DAY— THE  SABBATH. 

limited  as  the  race  was  in  individuals  and  in  works,  it  is 
probable  that  the  whole  was  swept  into  the  sea,  If, 
indeed,  the  deluge  had  been  stationary  and  permanent, 
man's  remains  might  be  looked  for  in  the  alluvial  silt 
covering  his  original  habitat ;  but  it  came  on  suddenly, 
and  then  receded,  like  the  ebbing  of  a  tide.  The  bodies, 
obeying  the  same  law  which  exists  now,  under  similar 
circumstances,  would  float  off  with  the  tide,  and  would 
finally  lodge  in  the  bottom  of  the  adjacent  seas,  or  perhaps 
be  borne  to  great  distancesTn  the  ocean.  Decomposition 
would  ensue  with  rapidity — for  it  is  a  great  mistake  to 
suppose,  as  St.  Pierre  has  shown,  that  because  the  waters 
of  the  ocean  are  salt,  they  are  therefore  preservative  of  ani- 
mal matter.  Sea-water  is  saline,  but  it  is  not  a  pickle. 
If  a  bottle  be  filled  in  a  tropical  climate,  decomposition 
will  soon  occur,  when  it  becomes  nauseous  and  putrid. 
The  very  saltness  of  the  sea  is  supposed  to  proceed  from 
the  decomposition  of  animal  and  vegetable  matter,  pouring 
into  it  from  all  quarters  of  the  earth.  The  ocean  is  a 
common  sewer  or  cess-pool,  into  which  all  the  filth  of  the 
earth  is  emptied,  and  from  which,  by  the  movement  of 
its  waves,  salt  is  distilled.  It  is  properly  a  lixivial,  and 
can,  therefore,  readily  decompose  any  organic  substance 
introduced  into  it.  If  the  Adamite  race  had  been  wafted 
into  such  waters,  it  is  plain  that  all  traces  of  it  would 
soon  disappear,  and  be  forever  lost  to  the  curious  specu- 
lations of  modern  paleontologists  and  comparative  anato- 
mists. 

Before  leaving  this  branch  of  the  subject,  I  shall  notice 
one  or  two  additional  points  suggested  by  the  anti- 
Noachians.  "Of  the  creatures  that  live  on  vegetables," 
says  Hugh  Miller,  "many  are  restricted  in  their  food  to 
single  plants,  which  are  themselves  restricted  to  limited 
localities,  and  remote  regions  of  the  globe.  Though  these 
were  estimated  in  1842,  to  consist  of  no  fewer  than  five 


HUGH    MILLER   OX   THE   DELUGE.  417 

hundred  and  fifty  thousand  species,  they  might  yet  be 
accommodated  in  a  comparatively  limited  space.  But 
how  extraordinary  an  amount  of  miracle  would  it  not  re- 
quire to  bring  them  all  together  into  any  one  centre,  or  to 
preserve  them  there  !  Many  of  them,  like  the  myriopoda 
and  the  thysanura,  have  no  wings,  and  but  feeble  loco- 
motive powers ;  many  of  them,  such  as  the  ephemera,  and 
the  male  ants,  live  after  they  have  got  their  wings  only  a 
few  hours,  or  at  most  a  few  days ;  and  there  are  myriads 
of  them  that  can  live  upon  but  single  plants  that  grow  in 
very  limited  botanic  centres.  Even  supposing  them  all 
brought  into  the  ark  by  miracle  as  eggs,  what  multitudes 
of  them  would  not,  without  the  exertion  of  further  miracle, 
require  to  be  sent  back  to  their  proper  habitats,  as  wing- 
less grubs,  or  as  insects  restricted  by  nature  to  a  few  days 
of  life  !  Or  supposing  the  eggs  all  left  in  their  several 
localities  to  lie  under  water  for  a  twelvemonth,  amid 
mud  and  debris — though  certain  of  the  hardier  kinds 
might  survive  such  treatment,  by  miracle  alone  could  the 
preponderating  majority  of  the  class  be  preserved.  And 
be  it  remembered,  that  the  expedient  of  having  recourse 
to  supposititious  miracle  in  order  to  get  over  a  difficulty 
insurmountable  on  every  natural  principle,  is  not  of  the 
nature  of  argument,  but  simply  an  evidence  of  the  want 
of  it.  Argument  is  at  an  end  when  supposititious  miracle 
is  introduced."* 

The  closing  sentence  of  this  paragraph  is  somewhat 
anomalous.  First,  we  are  told,  "that  by  miracle  alone 
could  the  preponderating  majority  of  certain  classes  of  the 
five  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  species  of  insects  be  pre- 
served in  the  ark;"  and  then  we  are  reminded  that,  if  we 
establish  their  preservation  by  calling  in  the  aid  of  miracle, 
or  miraculous  agency,  (the  same  thing,)  "  there  is  an  end 

*  Hugh  Miller's  Testimony  of  the  Hocks. 


418        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

to  argument.  It  seems  to  me  that  there  is  an  end  to 
argument  in  the  very  terms  of  the  quoted* sentence.  This 
whole  discussion  involves  miracles.  Mr.  Miller  himself, 
in  all  his  books,  deals  in  nothing  but  miracles  ;  for  all 
God's  works  are  such.  He  never  consummated  a  greater 
miracle  than  when  he  created  these  very  insects.  "  Man 
the  wonderful"  scarcely  displays  nicer  or  more  miraculous 
functions  than  the  butterfly,  the  bee,  the  ant,  or  the  spider. 
The  earth  and  the  heavens  are  merely  stupendous 
miracles  ;  and  how  could  the  Bible,  if  it  be  a  faithful  reve- 
lation of  God's  acts  and  commands,  be  otherwise  ?  It  is 
this  very  feature,  so  perfectly  consistent  with  all  that  we 
see  or  know  of  the  Creator,  that  gives  the  stamp  of 
authenticity  to  the  sacred  volume.  Mr.  Miller,  and  all  the 
geologists  of  his  school,  profess  to  believe  in  that  book ; 
and  yet  we  find  them  constantly  assailing  its  integrity, 
because,  forsooth  I  it  daals  in  miracles!  If  its  statements 
were  based  upon  truths  such  as  man  would  dictate — such 
as  writers  like  Miller  himself  would  expound — a  new  and 
revised  edition  would  have  to  appear  annually — future 
generations  would  have  to  erase  the  errors  and  absurdities 
of  the  present,  and  the  present  those  of  the  past.  But 
the  Bible,  based  upon  the  solid  truths  of  God's  eternal 
laws,  is  the  authentic  record  of  miracles — miracles  con- 
nected together  as  a  chain,  any  single  link  of  which 
proving  false,  would  precipitate  the  whole  Christian  fabric 
to  oblivion.  But  God's 

"  Creation  is  no  less 
Than  a  capacious  reservoir  of  means, 
Formed  for  his  use,  and  ready  at  his  will." 

Bnt  all  this  is  perhaps  foreign  to  the  main  question. 
We  are  to  determine,  without  resorting  to  "  supposititious 
miracle,"  how  five  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  species  of 
minute  animals,  such  as  flies,  spiders,  beetles,  locusts,  etc., 


INSECTS   IN   THE   ARK.  419 

were  provided  for  in  the  ark.     First,  we  have  no  reason  to 
believe  that  there  are,  or  ever  were,  five  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  species — the  largest  and  most  Decent  estimate 
that  we  have  seen  not  exceeding  four  hundred  thousand. 
This  number,  however,  is  sufficient,  and  would  be  equally 
as  formidable  as  the  first,  were  it  not  susceptible  of  very 
considerable  reductions.     More  than  one-half  of  them  are 
aquatic,  spawning  in  mud  and  water,  and  therefore  require 
no  more  attention  than  fishes,  or  the  cetacean  mammalia. 
This  brings  us  down  to  200,000  species,  of  which  number 
more  than  one  half  are  burrowers  in  the  earth,  and  have 
the  faculty  of  lying  dormant  during  seasons  of  cold,  no 
matter  how  long  continued,  as  worms  of  every  descrip- 
tion, grubs,   ants,  and  thousands   of  other   minute  and 
nameless  creatures,  which  it  would  be  out  of  the  question 
here  to  describe.     The  whole  earth,  however,  teems  with 
them,  and  a  moment's  reflection  on  the  part  of  my  reader 
will  recall  myriads  of  different  species  to  his  recollection. 
Of  the  remaining  100,000  species,  nearly  all  of  them  are 
natives  or  frequenters  of  the  forest,  the  orchard,  or  the 
garden.     They  secrete  themselves  or  their  invisible  larvae 
(visible,  for  the  most  part,  only  by  the  microscope)  in  the 
bark  of  trees,  or  bore  into  the  solid  trunks  or  roots,  and  in 
the  partings  of  decayed  stumps  and  rotten  logs.     No  one 
who  has  not  had  some  practical  experience  of  forest  life, 
can  form  the  remotest  conception  of  the  almost  unlimited 
extent  and  variety  of  the  creatures  which  live  and  generate 
upon  the  trees.     They  are  inseparable  from  vegetation,  and 
are  perhaps  essential  to  terminate  tke  life  of  the  giants  of 
the  forest ;  for  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  their  rapid 
increase  ultimately  attacks  the  vitality  of  trees,  and  hastens 
their  death.     This  is  familiarly  illustrated  in  the  case  of 
fruit  and  ornamental  trees — the  ravages  of  insects,  in  a 
single  season,  destroying  not  merely  single  individuals,  but 
entire  gardens  and  parks. 


420        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

But  we  have  made  no  provision  for  that  numerous  class 
of  insects  which  infest  animals,  as  fleas,  lice,  flies,  gnats, 
and  various  other  parasitic  bugs  and  vermin.  This  class, 
also  embracing  many  varieties,  is  equally  inseparable  from 
animal  life,  no  matter  under  what  circumstances  it  may 
exist.  But  besides  these,  there  is  still  another  class,  by 
no  means  less  varied  or  numerous,  which  are  to  be  found 
in  the  crevices  of  furniture,  houses,  ships,  barns,  granaries, 
and  among  stores  of  every  description — embracing  spiders 
of  all  kinds,  stylops,  moths,  ants,  wasps,  bed-bugs,  roaches, 
and  the  whole  family  of  Myriopoda  cited  by  Mr.  Miller. 
All  these,  I  repeat,  are  inseparable  from  the  substances  in 
and  around  which  they  are  found.  Maggots  exist  in 
putrid  animal  matter — in  cheese,  in  vegetables,  in  earths 
and  soils.  They  cannot  be  eradicated,  for  their  larvae, 
like  that  of  common  flies,  is  generally  invisible.  Besides 
these,  there  are  many  species  of  locusts,  caterpillars, 
beetles,  cochineals,  dragon-flies,  etc.,  etc.y  the  larvae  of 
which,  like  that  of  all  the  others,  is  diffused  in  the  secret 
pores  of  vegetable,  animal,  and  earthy  substances,  and 
generally  lie  dormant  until  wakened  into  life  by  heat  or 
moisture. 

The  simple  truth  is,  that  the  great  majority  of  these 
minute  creatures,  in  their  larval  condition,  exist  primarily 
in  the  juices  of  animals  and  vegetables,  precisely  as  the 
microscope  shows  thousands  of  distinct  creatures  inhabit- 
ing a  single  drop  of  water.  I  have  already  remarked,  in 
the  earlier  pages  of  this  book,  the  microscopic  revelations 
of  Ehrenberg  and  otjjers,  (among  whom  I  may  include 
my  neighbor,  Dr.  Wythes,  of  Port  Carbon,  who  has  writ- 
ten a  valuable  book  on  the  subject,  and  is  perhaps  one  of 
the  most  scientific  entomologists  of  the  present  age,)  by 
which  it  appears  that  a  greater  number  of  inhabitants 
occupy  a  cubic  inch  of  water  than  there  are  human  beings 
on  the  face  of  the  globe  !  Water  is  water,  whether  it  be 


EXTRAORDINARY   PECULIARITIES   OF  INSECTS.         421 

found  in  the  body  of  animals,  or  in  trees,  plants,  and 
fruits ;  and  it  has  been  ascertained  that  no  matter  how 
carefully  it  may  be  distilled,  animalcules  still  exist  in  it  in 
one  form  ,or  another.  The  author  of  the  Yestiges  of 
Creation  refers,  at  considerable  length,  to  experiments 
made  some  years  ago,  in  England,  by  Messrs.  Weeks  and 
Crosse,  by  which  insects  of  the  species  acari  were  elabo- 
rated from  solutions  of  ferrocyanate  of  potassium,  obtained 
by  boiling  salt  in  distilled  water,  and  then  subjecting  the 
solution,  under  closed  vessels,  in  an  atmosphere  of  pure 
oxygen,  to  long-continued  electric  currents.  These  ex- 
periments are  cited  to  prove  the  soundness  of  the  devel- 
opment hypothesis,  which  is  based  upon  the  assumption 
that  animal  life  can  and  has  originated  otherwise  than  ex 
ovo.  Instead,  however,  of  proving  any  such  nonsense, 
they  prove  incontestably  what  has  already  been  men- 
tioned, and  what  Ehrenberg,  Wythes,  and  others  have 
demonstrated,  that  a  drop  of  water  is  as  much  a  globe  to 
microscopic  animalcules  as  terra  firma  is  to  man  ;  that 
while  water  may  be  changed,  mixed,  distilled,  or  heated, 
the  animals  or  their  larvae  still  remain  instinct  with  life  ; 
and  that  they  perpetuate  their  respective  species  by 
spawn  so  infinitesimally  minute,  that  the  highest  powers 
of  the  microscope  cannot  detect  them,  but  which  are 
proven  to  exist  in  the  ovo  of  the  very  insects  thus  generated 
by  the  chemical  experiments  of  Messrs.  Weeks  and  Crosse ! 
But  it  is  an  extraordinary  fact,  that  many  of  these  animal- 
cules, as  well  as  certain  species  of  lice  which  infest  vege- 
tation, are  not  only  gifted  with  fecundating  properties  to 
perpetuate  themselves,  but  transmit  such  properties  to 
their  female  descendants  for  many  succeeding  generations. 
The  minute  spawn  thus  generated  has,  within  its  indi- 
viduals, the  spawn  for  other  generations  ;  and  so  they  may 
continue  to  multiply,  under  the  most  diverse  circumstances 
that  the  mind  can  conceive,  without  incurring  the  re* 


422        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

motest  liability  of  the  ultimate  extinction  of  their  species. 
The  celebrated  Reaumer  has  proved,  that  one  single 
female  may  become  the  parent,  in  five  generations,  of 
more  than  five  thousand  nine  hundred  and  four  millions 
of  descendants!  The  higher  species  of  insects  are  less 
prolific,  but  their  nature  is  better  understood.  A  single 
fly  will  generate,  in  a  period  of  three  or  four  months,  a 
brood  of  from  seven  to  eight  hundred  thousand  flies  ;  the 
wasp  will  deposit  thirty  thousand  eggs,  the  queen-bee 
from  forty  to  fifty  thousand,  and  the  moth  of  the  silk- 
worm from  five  to  six  hundred.  It  is  the  wonderful 
fecundity  of  these  animals,  and  their  adaptation  to  the  most 
obscure  and  imperceptible  retreats  and  crevices,  and  the 
ability  of  their  infinitely  minute  spawn  to  resist  all  the  ad- 
verse circumstances  of  earth,  air,  and  water,  that  render 
the  extinction  of  their  species  a  physical  impossibility, 
so  long  as  earth,  air,  water,  vegetation,  and  animals 
remain  1 


•Why  has  man  not  a  microscopic  eye  ? 
For  this  plain  reason :  man  is 


And  for  this  very  plain  reason,  it  is  impossible  for  man 
to  fathom  the  deep  and  wonderful  mysteries  of  the  great 
Creator.  His  works  are  miracles — laj'ge  or  small,  ani- 
mate or  inanimate,  gaseous,  liquid,  or  solid; — all  are 
wrought  with  a  mechanism  at  once  skillful,  mysterious, 
and  incomprehensible. 

I  am  astonished  that  a  writer  of  the  reputed  intelligence 
and  .scientific  acumen  of  the  late  Mr.  Miller,  should  have 
advanced  a  proposition  so  perfectly  destitute  of  signifi- 
cance, and  reflecting  so  seriously  upon  his  judgment  as  a 
Naturalist.  He  might  as  well  have  undertaken  to  sepa- 
rate animals  or  vegetables  from  the  diseases  to  which  they 
are  liable,  as  to  separate  them  from  the  parasitic  insects 


INSECTS   IN   THE   AKK.  423 

and  vermin  which  they  absorb  in  water,  nourish  in  their 
vital  juices,  and  yield  up  in  their  putrefying  bodies  !  Yet 
we  find  him  exclaiming,  with  a  dogmatic  and  triumphant 
air,  as  if  his  philosophic  vagaries  had  dealt  a  stunning 
blow  to  the  blunt  and  unaffected  statements  of  the  Bible  : 
"  But  how  extraordinary  an  amount  of  miracle  would  it 
not  have  required  to  bring  them  together  into  any  one 
centre,  or  to  preserve  them  there  !"  On  the  contrary,  the 
amount  of  miracle  (if  it  is  estimable  by  bulk)  necessary 
to  bring  them  together,  was  extremely  small — for  nearly 
all  the  animals  of  the  Adamite  creation,  as  we  have  al- 
ready shown,  occupied  their  original  centre.  The  insects 
dwelt  and  moved  with  animals,  and  fed  upon  the  vegetable 
and  other  stores  in  the  ark  ;  while  their  spawn  remained 
behind  in  seas  and  rivers  ;  under  shelving  rocks,  and  their 
burrows  in  the  earth,  and  in  the  pores  of  roots  and  trees ; 
in  perforated  stumps  and  decomposing  rubbish,  and  in 
nuts,  fruits,  and  plants.  Of  the  four  or  five  hundred  thou- 
sand estimated  species  of  insects  and  vermin,  it  was 
hardly  probable  that  special  attention  was  necessary  to 
the  preservation  of  a  single  species.  Even  the  bee  could 
shift  for  herself,  locked  up  in  the  cavities  of  trees,  amid 
her  stores  of  manufactured  sweets.  But  this,  it  may  be 
objected,  was  in  conflict  with  the  divine  decree,  which 
ordered  all  animal  life  to  be  extinguished  from  the  earth 
—"all  flesh  wherein  there  is  life."  So  far  as  the  living 
creatures  themselves  are  concerned,  the  order  was  obeyed ; 
but  it  could  have  had  no  application  to  life  in  embryo. 
The  myriads  of  spawn  in  the  earth,  and  in  the  recesses 
of  vegetation,  were  not  living  animals — they  required  the 
nourishing  care  of  nature  for  their  future  development, 
and  would  only  spring  into  existence  with  the  renewal  of 
vegetable  and  animal  life.  But  the  great  bulk  of  the 
higher  class  of  insects  swarmed  to  the  ark  with  the  ani- 
mals anrl  their  forage,  and  had  their  larvae  secreted  long 


424        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

in  advance  of  its  embarkation.  But  inasmuch  t,s  nothing 
was  said  of  fishes  and  cetacea,  we  have  a  right  to  assume 
that  insects  stood  in  a  similar  relation,  especially  in  view 
of  the  fact  that  the  great  bulk  of  them  are  aquatic  and 
amphibious.  Knowing  their  inseparable  identity  with 
vegetation  and  animals,  the  Creator  was  incapable  of 
giving  an  order  to  his  servant  Noah,  which  it  would  have 
been  difficult  for  him  to  carry  out  in  any  other  way  than 
that  already  suggested.  The  object  was  to  annihilate 
man,  and  the  order  of  mammalian  animals  more  directly 
associated  with  the  economy  of  the  earth.  But  "  myriads 
of  them,"  continues  Miller,  "  can  live  upon  but  single 
plants,  that  grow  in  very  limited  botanic  centres."  If 
they  can  only  live  on  certain  plants,  where  would  be  the 
propriety  of  their  removal  ?  And  does  it  not  follow,  as  a 
logical  sequence,  that  if  they  can  only  live  on  such  plants, 
they  derive  their  vitality  from  them — that  the  spawn 
exists  ia*the  sap  of  such  trees  or  plants,  while  the  ^dult 
lives  as  a  parasite  upon  their  exudations  ?  Most  trees 
were  not  destroyed  by  submergence ;  or,  at  all  events, 
their  roots  remained,  even  though  their  trunks  were  de- 
tached, and  scattered  over  the  ground.  No  injury,  there- 
fore, could  result  to  the  larvaB  secreted  in  t'heir  pores  or 
beneath  their  bark.  But  besides  all  this,  water  alone  would 
in  most  cases  not  injuriously  affect  the  ova  or  spawn  of 
the  great  bulk  of  insects  and  vermin.  Many  of  them  are 
incubated  by  moisture  and  heat ;  and  the  large  family  of 
fleas,  musquitoes,  and  various  bugs,  seem  to  prefer  such 
situations,  and  are  often  found  swarming  in  countless 
myriads  over  stagnant  pools  or  along  the  sea  coasts,  and 
in  marshy  swamps  and  meadows.  "  But,"  he  continues, 
"even  supposing  them  all  brought  into  the  ark  by  miracle 
as  eggs,  what  multitudes  of  them  would  not,  without  the 
exertion  of  further  miracle,  require  to  be  sent  back  to 
their  proper  habitats  as  wingless  grubs,  or  as  insects  re- 


SPECIFIC   VEGETATION   IN   GEOLOGICAL   ERAS.          425 

* 

stricted  by  nature  to  a  few  days  of  life  !"  It  is,  indeed, 
painful  to  notice  such  innuendos,  because  they  reveal  the 
melancholy  truth  that,  under  the  pretext  of  harmonizing 
God's  law  with  "  science,"  the  writer  has  no  proper  con- 
ception of  one  or  the  other.  When  men  betray  such  con- 
summate ignorance  of  the  ordinary  economy  of  nature, 
and  of  the  wonderful  powers  of  recuperation  possessed  by 
its  microscopic  creatures,  it  is  hardly  a  ^natter  of  aston- 
ishment that  they  should,  with  high-sounding  words, 
shows  of  superficial  learning,  and  with  affected  zeal  and 
boldness,  undertake  to  question  the  plainest  Decrees  of  the 
Creator.  Although  "wingless  grubs"  exist  in  cheese, 
walnuts,  fruits,  and  animal  putrefactions,  and  millions  of 
other  similar  worms  and  crawling  grubs  in  filth  of  every 
description  ;  yet  this  Naturalist  is  puzzled  to  know  how 
Noah  could  have  brought  them  into  the  ark,  and  then 
how  he  afterward  distributed  them  over  the  earth  !  If 
Noah  himself  was  puzzled  at  any  thing,  it  was  to  know 
how  h*  could  keep  them  out  of  his  ark ;  and  if  he  had  a 
moiety  of  the  common  sense  usually  allotted  to  human 
nature>  he  never  gave  himself  the  least  uneasiness  as  to 
their  subsequent  geographical  distribution.  I  may  here 
remark,  what  has  already  been  noticed  in  my  observations 
on  coal,  that  every  successive  stratum  of  the  earth  appears 
to-be  impregnated  with  the  seeds  of  its  own  peculiar 
species  of  vegetation ;  and  on  consulting  the  Bible,  I  find 
nothing  to  contradict  such  a  theory,  but  much  to  confirm 
it.  The  coal  measures,  wherever  they  outcrop,  are  pro- 
lific in  ferns ;  and  I  find  precisely  the  same  varieties  im- 
bedded in  the  rocks  below  !  It  may  be  assumed  that  the 
Carboniferous  strata  are  the  true  native  soils  of  ferns  and 
all  coniferous  trees ;  and  that  wherever  these  soils  are 
brought  to  the  surface,  and  unaffected  by  artificial  culture, 
such  trees  will  spontaneously  spring  into  existence,  and 
constitute  the  prevailing  vegetation.  It  may  be  objected 


426        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

that  the  seeds  could  not  be  preserved  in  the  earth  for  suck 
an  indefinite  and  incalculable  space  of  time,  and  that  they 
would  become  fossilized  with  the  limbs  and  trunks  of  the 
trees.  But  even  in  the  hardest  argillaceous  rocks,  and 
more  especially  in  soft  slates  and  shales,  what  we  regard 
as  stone  is  merely  baked  comminuted  mud  ;  and  we  know 
from  experience  how  the  crevices  and  the  interior  surfaces 
of  rocks  clothe  themselves  in  the  most  remote  and  loftiest 
situations,  surrounded  by  water  or  by  glacial  mountains, 
with  vegetation  corresponding  in  every  particular  to  the 
ancient  species.  And  since  God  nowhere  alludes  to  new 
creations  of  vegetation  until  he  "  planted  the  garden  east- 
ward in  Eden,"  and  thus  introduced  the  varied  fruits  and 
flowers  which  the  world  now  enjoys,  we  have  abundant 
reason  to  believe  that  every  geological  formation  has  its 
peculiar  species  of  plants.  I  therefore  lay  it  down  as  a 
theory,  based  upon  my  personal  observation,  that  every 
system  of  rocks  furnishes  now,  as  it  did  in  the  past,  its 
peculiar  plants,  affected  only  by  changes  of  climate  ;  and 
it  is  in  consequence  of  this  fact  that  we  have  the  unlimited 
diversity  of  species  and  genera  which  now  distinguishes 
the  earth's  crust.  And  should  further  investigation  cor- 
roborate this  hypothesis,  the  varied  centres  of  vegetable 
creations  claimed  by  nearly  all  botanists,  like  many  other 
similar  propositions  that  conflict  with  the  Bible,  will  be 
forever  .nailed  to  the  counter.  After  the  creation  of  man, 
when  the  strata  of  the  earth  were  thrown  together  upon 
the  surface  of  the  earth,  in  consequence  of  previous  dis- 
turbance, God  foresaw  the  intermixture  of  the  seeds  thus 
primarily  imbedded,  and  hence  decreed  man  to  the  task 
of  cultivating  the  ground  and  subduing  it.  This  intermix- 
ture of  seeds  must  forever  continue,  so  long  as  water  runs, 
winds  blow,  or  birds  and  animals  migrate.  It  is  a  law — 
a  miracle  of  nature,  decreed  from  the  beginning. 

Although  I  have  already  dwelt  on  this  branch  of  my 


IDENTITY  OF  EXTINCT  AND  LIVING  ANIMALS.         427 

subject  at  greater  length  than  I  intended,  another  propo 
Bition  in  Mr.  Miller's  theory  of  the  deluge,  and  the  one 
upon  which  he  evidently  most  relies,  common  courtesy — 
ad  hominem  argumentum — requires  me  to  notice.  "  The 
great  continents,"  says  Cuvier,  "  contain  species  peculiar 
to  each  ;  insomuch,  that,  whenever  large  countries  of  this 
description  have  been  discovered,  which  their  situation 
had  kept  isolated  from  the  rest  of  the  world,  the  class  of 
quadrupeds  which  they  contained  has  been  found  ex- 
tremely different  from  any  that  had  existed  elsewhere. 
Thus,  when  the  Spaniards  first  penetrated  into  South 
America,  they  did  not  find  a  single  species  of  quadruped 
the  same  as  any  of  Europe,  Asia,  or  Africa.  The  puma, 
the  jaguar,  the  tapir,  the  cabai,  the  lama,  the  vicuna,  the 
sloths,  the  armadillos,  the  opossums,  and  the  whole  tribe 
of  sapagos,  were  to  them  entirely  new  animals,  of  which 
they  had  no  idea.  Similar  circumstances  have  recurred 
in  our  own  time,  when  the  coasts  of  New  Holland  and 
the  adjacent  islands  were  first  explored.  The  various 
species  of  kangaroo,  phascolornys,  dasyurus,  and  perame- 
les,  the  flying  phalangers,  the  ornithorhynchi,  and  echid- 
nae,  have  astonished  naturalists  by  the  strangeness  of 
their  conformations,  which  presented  proportions  con- 
trary to  all  former  rules,  and  were  incapable  of  being  ar- 
ranged under  any  of  the  systems  then  in  use." 

Mr.  Miller  quotes  this  paragraph  of  the  Baron  Cuvier, 
and  then  adds  :  "  And  it  is  a  most  significant  fact,  that  both 
in  the  two  great  continents  and  the  New  Zealand  Islands, 
there  existed,  in  the  later  geologic  ages,  extinct  faunas 
that  bore  the  peculiar  generic  characters  by  which  their 
recent  ones  are  still  distinguished.  The  sloths  and  arma- 
dillos of  South  America  had  their  gigantic  predecessors 
in  the  enormous  megatherium  and  mylodon,  and  the 
strangely-armed  glyptodon  ;  the  kangaroos  and  wombats 
of  Australia  had  their  extinct  predecessors  in  a  kangaroo 


428        THE  SEVENTH  DAY— THE  SABBATH. 

nearly  twice  the  size  of  the  largest  living  species,  and  in 
so  huge  a  wombat,  that  its  bones  have  been  mistaken  for 
those  of  the  hippopotamus  ;  and  the  ornithic  inhabitants 
of  New  Zealand  had  their  predecessors  in  the  monstrous 
birds,  such  as  the  dinornis,  the  optornis,  and  the  palap- 
teryx — wingless  creatures  like  the  ostrich,  that  stood 
from  six  to  twelve  feet  in  height.  In  these  several  re- 
gions, two  generations  of  species,  of  the  genera  peculiar 
to  them  have  existed — the  recent  generation  by  whose  de- 
scendants they  are  still  inhabited,  and  the  extinct  genera- 
tion, whose  remains  we  find  locked  up  in  their  soils  and 
caves.  But  how  are  such  facts  reconcilable  with  the 
hypothesis  of  a  universal  deluge  ?" 

Upon  the  premises  thus  surveyed,  Mr.  Miller  proceeds 
to  argue  against  the  probability  of  these  animals  having 
been  collected  into  the  ark  by  Noah  ;  or,  if  they  had  been, 
by  some  miraculous  means  unknown,  he  considers  it  in- 
admissible that  they  should  afterward  have  been  re- 
turned to  the  several  islands  and  continents  previously 
inhabited,  without  the  exercise  of  still  greater  miracle. 
In  short,  he  regards  the  whole  thing  as  physically  im- 
possible, but  die  novella  tutto  par  bello.  The  immortal 
bard  has  said  that  "Truth  is  stranger  than  fiction  ;"  to 
many  persons  it  is  not  only  a  stranger,  but  it  is  not  half 
so  fascinating  as  fiction.  If,  indeed,  the  animals  now  in- 
habiting these  regions  were  in  the  ark  at  all,  it  needs  no 
argument  to  prove  that  they,  or  their  progenitors,  after- 
ward returned.  But  this  is  not  the  point;  the  main 
question  at  issue  divides  itself  into  three  parts :  first, 
were  the  extinct  species  (of  the  genera)  really  identical, 
ancjihe  "predecessors"  of  those  now  inhabiting  those 
continents  ;  second,  did  the  extinct  species  really  live  be- 
fore the  flood,  in  the  localities  where  their  remains  are 
found ;  and  third,  if  they  lived  before  the  flood,  does  it 


IDENTITY   OP   EXTINCT    AND   LIVING   ANIMALS.         429 

follow,  and  must  we  therefore  believe,  that  they  were  un- 
represented in  the  original  Adamite  creation  ? 

"  The  sloths  and  armadillos  of  South  America  had  their 
gigantic  predecessors  in  the  enormous  megatherium  (and 
mylodon),  and  the  strongly-armed  giyptodon."  This  sen- 
tence is  evidently  intended  to  pass  current  for  more  than 
its  exact  value.  They  had  their  "  predecessors" — that  is 
to  say,  they  were  preceded  by  animals  of  a  similar  nature. 
It  implies  a  near  relation ;  because,  if  there  were  no  such 
relation,  the  fact  of  the  one  class  preceding  the  other 
would  have  no  significance.  We  say  it  implies  a  near 
relation,  but  the  writer  has  omitted  to  point  it  out.  He 
says  nothing  of  the  habits  or  anatomical  structure  of  any 
of  them.  Where,  then,  is  the  propriety  of  creating  in- 
ferences not  sustained  by  facts'?  The 'animals  may  or 
may  not  be  allied  by  generic  features ;  if  they  are,  they 
should  have  been  pointed  out.  A  dog  resembles  a  horse 
because  it  walks  on  four  legs.  Here  we  see  the  exact 
amount  of  the  resemblance — its  beginning  and  its  end. 
The  lion  and  the  tiger,  the  bear  and  the  cat,  the  panther 
and  the  leopard,  are  equally  members  of  the  feline  tribe, 
the  generic  features  of  which  embrace  a  very  large  num- 
ber of  different  species,  and  all  of  them  distinct  from  each 
other.  Now,  (according  to  the  implication  of  Miller's 
proposition,)  if  a  menagerie  traveling  through  South 
America,  and  including  in  its  collection  the  Bengal  tiger, 
the  African  lion,  the  chetah,  the  cat,  and  the  leopard,  the 
zoologist  would  be  justified  in  asserting  that  the  native 
puma  and  the  jaguar,  living  or  dead,  were  the  "predeces- 
sors" of  these  animals — and  that,  in  consequence  of  their 
visit  to  South  America,  they  attained  a  nearer  relation  to 
the  puma  and  the  jaguar  than  that  previously  held  when, 
separated  by  the  Pacific  ocean  ?  In  other  words,  accord- 
ing to  Miller's  premises,  the  fact  of  their  meeting  on  com- 
mon ground  is  sufficient  to  assimilate  species  !  Accor- 


430         THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

dingly,  it  is  only  necessary  to  remove  the  South  American 
tapir  to  Africa,  in  order  to  establish  its  identity  with  the 
elephant !  But  let  the  tapir  be  extinguished,  and  its 
bones  be  scattered  in  caves  and  alluvial  silt,  and  then 
bring  the  elephant  to  South  America,  it  will  be  easy  to 
show,  (by  this  kind  of  reasoning,)  that  the  tapir  was  the 
"  predecessor"  of  the  elephant ;  and,  agreeably  to  the  de- 
velopment hypothesis,  (or  vice  versa,  the  degradation 
theory,}  it  would  follow  that  the  one  was  preceded  by,  and 
descended  from  the  other  ! 

Having  already  referred  to  and  briefly  described  all 
these  animals,  it  would  be  a  useless  repetition  to  perform 
the  same  task  again.  The  armadillos  bear  considera- 
ble resemblance  to  the  manis,  a  lizard-like  ant-eater, 
though  they  themselves  also  eat  roots  and  vegetables. 
They  are  distinguished  as  burrowers  in  the  ground,  a 
characteristic  utterly  incompatible  with  the  extinct  Glyp- 
todon,  in  consequence  of  its  enormous  dimensions.  The 
Sloth,  on  the  contrary,  lives  on  trees,  and  travels  in  its 
native  forests,  from  one  to  the  other,  by  means  of  the  in- 
terlacing branches ;  but  unlike  squirrels  and  other  climb- 
ers, it  suspends  itself  from  the  limbs  of  trees,  and  travels 
like  a  fly  suspended  from  a  ceiling !  It  is  a  compara- 
tively small  animal,  covered  with  long  hair,  and  present- 
ing some  remote  resemblance  to  a  baboon  !  Yet  this  is 
the  worthy  descendant  of* the  great  Megatherium  and 
Mylodon — animals  that  were  fully  as  large  as  existing 
elephants  and  rhinoceri  !  They  would  make  a  very 
beautiful  figure  in  traveling  through  the  forests  upside 
down,  suspended  from  the  bending  limbs  of  trees  !  The 
resemblance  in  habit  and  structure  of  the  armadillo  to  the 
extinct  Glyptodon,  is  equally  striking  and  pleasing  to 
contemplate  !  The  bones  of  the  Glyptodon  are  so  enor- 
mous that  they  were  long  supposed  to  be  those  of  the 
Megatherium.  We  can  accordingly  imagine  how  it 


EXTINCT   AND   LIVING    ANIMALS.  431 

would  burrow  in  the  ground,  and  bury  itself,  like  its 
supposed  pigmy  descendants,  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth  1 
The  resemblance  between  the  living  animals  and  the 
extinct  species  is  about  as  striking  as  that  between  the 
hog,  the  tapir,  and  the  elephant.  The  hog  has  a  thick 
ekin  ; — so  has  the  elephant.  The  tapir  has  a  proboscis  ; 
— so  has  the  elephant ; — ergo,  they  all  belong  to  the  same 
general  family.  The  Glyptodon,  like  the  existing  arma- 
dillo and  the  manis,  was  covered  by  a  scaly  coat  of  mail, 
but  in  this  respect  they  all  resemble  alligators  or  marine 
turtles  as  much  as  they  do  each  other  !  Their  anatomical 
structure  exhibits  few  features  in  common  ;  and  it  would 
require  the  highest  powers  of  the  imagination  to  detect  the 
smallest  identity  between  any  of  them,  either  as  re- 
spects instincts,  habits,  or  structure  !  From  these  simple 
facts,  the  reader  will  perceive  how  extremely  obscure  are 
the  inferences  of  comparative  anatomists  and  zoologists 
when  dealing  with  the  scattered  remains  of  extinct  ani- 
mals ;  and  how  perfectly  unauthorized  and  reckless  some 
writers  are  in  predicating  the  most  stupendous  specula- 
tions upon  such  unsubstantial  data.  The  classifications 
of  anatomists,  botanists,  and  geologists,  we  have  already 
shown,  are  very  arbitrary  and  diverse — based  as  they  are, 
upon  dental  formula,  or  that  of  the  hoof,  the  skin,  the 
skull,  or  other  general  or  specific  features.  But  notwith- 
standing this,  a  certain  clasS  of  writers,  whenever  the 
Bible  is  to  be  assailed,  rear  theories  high  as  heaven — em- 
ploying no  other  basis  than  an  old  tooth,  a  jawbone,  a 
fossil  fern,  or  the  tail  of  a  fish  or  a  serpent !  Under  the 
technical  flummery  of  science,  the  most  monstrous  absurdi- 
ties— (absurdities,  in  the  present  case,  only  equaled  by 
the  giant  proportions  of  the  extinct  animals,)  pass  current 
in  the  world,  and  are  as  eagerly  swallowed  and  believed 
in  as  the  panaceas,  sarsaparillas,  and  life-pills  of  the  med- 
ical empirics  !  They  are  all  gulped  down  with  avidity, 
28 


432        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

and  the  only  difference  between  them  is,  that  while  one 
disorders  the  body,  the  other  corrupts  the  mind; — one 
spreads  contagion  in  the  blood,  the  other  diffuses  it  into 
the  very  soul ! 

But  did  the  extinct  species  really  live  before  the  flood,  in 
the  several  localities  where  their  fossil  remains  are  found  ? 
Miller  intimates  very  broadly  that  they  did,  by  saying 
that  "  their  gigantic  remains  are  locked  up  in  their  soils 
and  caves."  After  the  examples  we  have  had  of  loose- 
ness and  recklessness  of  expression,  leading  to  erroneous' 
conclusions,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  be  on  our  guard. 
"Locked  up  in  their  soils  and  caves."  What,  "in  the 
names  of  all  the  gods  at  once,"  can  this  mean  ?  Can  any 
human  being  determine  what  particular  soils  are  here 
meant ;  and  as  for  caves,  he  may  as  likely  contemplate 
those  of  the  Paleozoic  as  the  Secondary  or  Tertiary,  and 
either  of  them  would  be  equally  theirs.  But  were  they 
locked  up  in  caves  of  any  kind  ?  If  so,  they  must  have 
been  enormous  ones,  with  openings  infinitely  larger  than 
a  Pennsylvania  barn-door  !  But  as  Mr.  Miller  has  not 
pointed  out  the  kind  of  soil  and  caverns  in  which  their 
fossils  are  locked  up,  we  shall  have  to  consult  some  other 
writers,  who  may  have  been  a  little  more  explicit.  Prof. 
Richardson,  in  his  "  Introduction  to  Geology,"  Buckland, 
in  his  "  Bridgewater  Treatise,"  and  Lyell,  in  his  "Ele- 
ments," may  throw  a  glimmer  of  light  on  the  subject,  or 
lend  us  a  key  by  which  to  unlock  these  mysterious 
"  caves"  and  "  soils"  of  Geology.  From  these  respectable 
writers  we  learn  that  not  only  the  Megatherium  and 
Glyptodon,  but  the  Chlamydotherium,  Hoplophorus, 
Pachytherium,  Euryodon,  and  Xenurus,  as  well  as  the 
Scelidotherium,  and  Platyonyx,  and  the  Cceladon,  Spheno- 
don,  are  all  "  locked  up,"  some  of  the  smaller  animals  in 
the  caverns,  and  the  larger  ones  in  the  soils  of  South 
America,  answering  to  the  upper  strata  of  the  sub-apen- 


EXTINCT   AND   LIVING   ANIMALS.  433 

nine  group  of  the  Mediterranean.  The  sub-apennine 
group  is  a  term  bestowed  by  Broechi,  an  Italian  geologist, 
who  investigated  the  argillaceous  and  sandy  deposits, 
replete  with  shells,  which  form  a  low  range  of  hills,  flank- 
ing the  Apennines  on  both  sides,  from  the  plains  of  the 
Po  to  Calabria.  The  deposits  embrace  strata  of  different 
ages,  the  oldest  of  which  are  newer  than  the  Tertiary 
Basins  of  London  and  Paris.  The  upper  strata,  as  well 
as  some  intermediate,  contain  shells  of  recent  species, 
both  of  marine  and  fresh-water  origin.  The  shores  of  the 
Mediterranean  often  exhibit  the  washings  and  silt  of  rivers, 
intermixed  with  the  debris  of  the  sea.  In  South  America, 
the  same  formation  is  represented  along  the  great  rivers  dis- 
charging into  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific,  like  the  adjacent 
plains  of  the  Mississippi,  in  North  America.  "  The  seven 
hills  of  Rome  are  composed  partly  of  marine  tertiary  strata 
of  the  older  Pliocene  period,  and  partly  of  superimposed 
volcanic  tufa,  on  the  top  of  which  are  usually  cappings  of 
a  fluviatile  and  lacustrine  deposit.  Thus,  on  Mount 
Aventine,  the  Vatican,  and  the  Capitol,  we  find  beds  of 
calcareous  tufa  with  incrusted  reeds,  and  recent  terrestrial 
shells,  at  the  height  of  two  hundred  feet  above  the  alluvial 
plains  of  the  Tiber.  The  tusk  of  the  mammoth  has  'been 
procured  from  this  formation,  but  the  shells  appear  to  be  all 
of  living  species.  "*  It  is  a  singular  coincidence  that,  be- 
fore the  building  of  Rome,  the  Almighty  should  have 
strewn  the  humble  but  highly  sculptured  shells  of  the  sea, 
and  the  remains  of  terrestrial  life  upon  the  spot  since 
made  famous  and  classical  with  the  works  of  man  !  Be- 
neath the  broad  dome  of  St.  Peter's  and  the  massive  walla 
of  the  Yatican,  with  its  five  hundred  grand. stairways,  its 
spacious  saloons,  and  wide  avenues — its  walls  animated 
with  the  chef  d'ceuvres  of  ancient  art,  and  its  niches  glit- 

*  Lyell's  Elements  of  Geology. 


434        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

tering  with  statuary  and  anaglyphs  of  marble,  and  brass, 
and  gold  ; — beneath  all  this,  the  Creator  had  written  his 
sermons  in  stones,  as  if  to  teach  his  vicegerent  a  practical 
lesson  in  Natural  Theology.  The  very  rock  upon  which 
the  Church  of  Peter  was  built,  is  a  rock  full  of  cosmical 
witnesses — all  of  which  can  bear  testimony  more  ancient 
than  the  bulls  of  the  Popes,  to  the  goodness,  grandeur, 
power,  and  unbounded  wisdom  of  the  great  Creator.  ^ 
Prof.  Lyell,  after  stating  that  an  analogy  exists  between 
the  skeletons  of  the  Megatherium,  Megalonyx,  Glyptodon, 
Toxodon,*  and  other  extinct  forms,  and  the  living  sloth, 
armadillo,  cavy,  capybara,  and  lama  of  South  America 
(from  which  statement  Miller  undoubtedly  borrowed  his 
ideas,  and  took  the  liberty  of  enlarging  very  considerably 
upon  them),  goes  on  to  remark  : 

"That  the  extinct  fauna  of  Buenos  Ayres  and  Brazil  was  very  modernt 
has  been  shown  by  its  relation  to  deposits  of  marine  shells,  agreeing  with 
those  now  inhabiting  the  Atlantic;  and  when  in  Georgia,  in  1845, 1  ascer- 
tained that  the  Megatherium,  Mylodon,  Harlanus  Ainericanus  (Owen), 
Equus  Curvideus,  and  other  quadrupeds  allied  to  the  Pampean  type, 
were  posterior  in  date  to  marine  shells  belonging  to  forty-Jive  recent  species 
of  the  neighboring  sea.  However  modern)  in  a  geological  point  of  view,  we 
may  consider  the  Pleistocene  epoch,  it  is  evident  that  causes  more  general 
and  powerful  than  the  intervention  of  man  have  occasioned  the  disappear- 
ance of  the  ancient  fauna  from  so  many  extensive  regions.  Not  a  few  of  the 
species  had  a  wide  range:  the  same  Megatherium,  for  instance,  extended 
from  Patagonia  and  the  river  Plata,  in  South  America,  between  latitudes 
31°  and  39°  south,  to  corresponding  latitudes  in  North  America,  the  same 
animal  being  also  an  inhabitant  of  the  intermediate  country  of  Brazil,  where 
its  fossil  bones  have  been  met  with  in  caves  (of  the  modern  era).  The  extinct 
elephant,  likewise  of  Georgia  (Elephas  primigenius),  has  been  traced  in  a 
fossil  state  northward  from  the  river  Alatamaha,  in  latitude  33°  50'  north 
to  the  polar  regions,  and  then  again  in  the  Eastern  Hemisphere  from 
Siberia  to  the  south  of  Europe.  If  it  be  objected  that,  notwithstanding 
the  adaptation  of  such  quadrupeds  to  a  variety  of  climates  and  geographi- 
cal conditions,  their  great  size  exposed  them  to  extermination  by  the  first 

•  Lyell's  Elements  of  Geology,  and  Principles  of  Geology. 


THE   ANTI-NOACHIANS   ANSWERED.  435 

hunter  tribes,  we  may  observe  that  the  investigations  of  Lund  and  Clausen 
in  the  ossiferous  limestone  caves  of  Brazil  have  demonstrated  that  these 
large  mammalia  were  associated  with  a  great  many  smaller  quadrupeds, 
some  of  them  as  diminutive  as  field  mice,  which  have  all  died  out  together, 
while  the  land  shells,  formerly  their  cotemporaries,  still  continue  to  exist  in 
the  same  countries.  As  we  may  feel  assured  that  these  minute  quadrupeds 
could  never  have  been  extirpated  by  man,  so  we  may  conclude  that  all 
species,  small  and  great,  have  been  annihilated  one  after  the  other,  in  the 
course  of  indefinite  ages,  by  those  changes  of  circumstances  in  the  organic 
and  inorganic  world,  which  are  always  in  progress,  and  are  capable,  in 
the  course  of  time,  of  greatly  modifying  the  physical  geography,  climate, 
and  all  other  conditions  on  which  the  continuance  upon  the  earth  of  any 
living  being  must  depend." 


I  have  thus  taken  the  pains  to  contradict  the  unau- 
thorized inferences  contained  in  the  propositions  of  Mr. 
Miller,  by  the  very  authority  from  which  he  seems  to  have 
drawn  his  ostensible  facts  to  destroy  the  idea  of  the  uni- 
versality of  the  flood  !  It  will  be  seen  that  not  only  are 
the  remains  of  these  extinct  animals  found  in  the  modern 
alluvial  strata,  but  that  Prof.  Lyell  deems  it  necessary  to 
dispute  the  theory  of  their  extinction  by  man — a  supposi- 
tion which  is  by  no  means  groundless,  as  I  shall  soon 
demonstrate.  The  evidences  of  the  flood  are  found  in 
nearly  every  instance  intermediate  between  these  strata — 
that  is  to  say,  between  the  post-Pliocene  and  the  more 
modern  of  the  geologists.  The  fact  is,  that  nearly  all  the 
extinct  animals  that  ever  breathed  upon  the  land  are  em- 
braced within  these  very  strata ;  and  as  the  boulder  for- 
mation, or  the  deluge,  occurs  during  this  period,  the  fact 
is  sufficient  and  irresistible  in  establishing  the  universality 
of  its  prevalence.  Sir  Charles  Lyell  wrote  without  any 
reference  to  theological  bearings ;  but  he  has  uncon- 
sciously accumulated  an  amount  of  evidence  which  tencls 
powerfully  and  directly  to  the  phenomena  of  the  Noachian 
deluge,  notwithstanding  the  perversions  to  which  cotcra- 
porary  writers  have  diverted  his  facts. 


436         THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

Whether  man  had  any  agency  in  the  extinction  of  the 
race  of  giant  animals  which  inhabited  the  earth  in  the 
more  remote  ages,  is  a  question  upon  which  we  can  do 
little  more  than  speculate.  One  thing,  however,  is  cer- 
tain, that  the  aborigines  of  America  have  traditions, 
handed  down  from  father  to  son,  of  the  existence  of  a  race 
of  quadrupedal  monsters.  I  have  in  my  library  Jefferson's 
"  Notes  on  Virginia,  for  the  use  of  a  Foreigner  of  Dis- 
tinction"— being  a  copy  of  the  original  edition  as  printed 
for  private  circulation.  I  need  not  say  that  I  value  this 
book  highly,  in  consequence  of  its  direct  emanation  from 
one  of  the  greatest  patriots  and  sages  that  the  world  has 
ever  produced.  Jefferson,  while  President  of  the  Ameri- 
can Philosophical  Society,  made  a  collection  of  the  bones 
of  the  Mastodon,  as  found  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio,  and, 
conjointly  with  Dr.  Franklin  and  a  few  others,  may  be 
said  to  have  been  the  pioneer  in  planting  the  Natural 
Sciences  in  the  New  World.  On  page  69  he  says,  "  Our 
quadrupeds  have  been  mostly  described  by  Linnasus  and 
Mons.  de  Buffon.  .  Of  these,  the  Mammoth,  or  big  buffalo, 
as  called  by  the  Indians,  must  certainly  have  been  the 
largest.  Their  tradition  is,  that  he  was  carnivorous,  and 
still  exists  in  the  northern  parts  of  America.  A  delega- 
tion of  warriors  from  the  Delaware  tribe,  having  visited 
the  Governor  of  Virginia  during  the  present  revolution, 
on  matters  of  business,  after  these  had  been  discussed  and 
settled  in  council,  the  Governor  asked  them  some  ques- 
tions relative  to  their  country,  and  among  others,  what 
they  knew  or  had  heard  of  the  animals  whose  bones  were 
found  at  the  Salt  Licks,  on  the  Ohio.  Their  chief  speaker 
minediately  put  himself  into  an  attitude  of  oratory,  and 
with  a  pomp  suited  to  what  he  conceived  the  elevation 
of  his  subject,  informed  him  that  it  was  a  tradition  handed 
down  from  their  fathers,  '  That  in  ancient  times,  a  herd 
of  these  tremendous  animals  came  to  the  Big-bone  Licks, 


TRADITIONS   OF   THE   INDIANS.  437 

and  began  a  universal  destruction  of  the  bear,  deer,  elks, 
buffaloes,  and  other  animals  which  had  been  created  for 
the  use  of  the  Indians  :  that  the  Great  Man  above,  look- 
ing down  and  seeing  this,  was  so  enraged  that  he  seized 
his  lightnings,  descended  on  the  earth,  seated  himself  on 
a  neighboring  mountain,  on  a  rock  of  which  his  seat  and 
the  print  of  his  feet  are  still  to  be  seen,  and  hurled  his 
bolts  among  them,  till  the  whole  were  slaughtered,  except 
the  big  bull,  who,  presenting  his  forehead  to  the  shafts, 
shook  them  off  as  they  fell ;  but  missing  one  at  length,  it 
wounded  him  in  the  side ;  whereupon,  springing  round, 
he  bounded  over  the  Ohio,  over  the  Wabash,  the  Illinois, 
and  finally  over  the  great  lakes,  where  he  is  living  at  this 
day.'" 

The  bones  of  the  Mastodon,  thus  referred  to,  occur  in 
the  same  relative  formation  as  those  of  the  Megatherium, 
Glyptodon,  and  the  other  extinct  species  of  South 
America.  They  are  found  scattered  along  the  alluvial 
beds  of  rivers,  in  meadows  and  salt  marshes, — sometimes 
covered  over  with  sand,  -mud,  and  decayed  leaves  and 
mould  to  the  depth  of  from  three  to  ten  and  twenty  feet. 
It  was  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  after  careful  inquiry, 
that  the  Mastodon  was  still  living,  and  inhabiting  the 
northern  regions  of  America.  Several  persons  of  intelli- 
gence, who  had  been  taken  prisoners  by  the  Indians,  and 
in  their  travels  discovered  bones  of  the  Mastodon  in  re- 
mote regions  of  the  country,  learned  from  them  that  the 
living  animals  had  been  seen  by  their  ancestors,  and  from 
their  descriptions  supposed  it  to  present  a  close  resem- 
blance to  the  elephant  or  the  hippopotamus.  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son also  shows,  with  Mr.  Lyell  already  quoted,  that  the 
remains  of  the  animal  have  been  found  strewn  over  the> 
earth  very  far  to  the  north  and  west. 

That  all  these  animals  lived  within  the  recollection  »f 
the  aborigines  of  America,  is  sufficiently  clear  in  the  fact 


438        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

that  human  bones  and  specimens  of  human  art  have  been 
found  in  cotemporary  geological  formations — namely,  the 
post-Pliocene  and  alluvial.  In  the  West  Indies,  in  the 
Island  of  Guadaloupe,  human  skeletons  have  been  found 
imbedded  in  solid  limestone.  The  stone  is  extremely 
hard,  and  chiefly  composed  of  comminuted  shells  and 
corals,  of  species  now  living  in  the  adjacent  ocean.  The 
coral  reefs  around  the  island  are  worn  down  by  the  action 
of  the  waves,  and  the  detritus  thus  produced  is  swept 
upon  the  shore  in  the  form  of  plastic  mud,  which  after- 
ward hardens  on  exposure  to  the  atmosphere,  or  by  a 
union  with  the  waters  of  streams  and  rivers  holding  car- 
bonate of  lime  in  solution.  The  skeletons,  strewn  over 
or  washed  out  of  the  land  adjacent  to  the  rivers  and  the 
ocean,  have  been  thus  infiltrated  with  the  coralline  mud 
and  limestone,  and  in  process  of  time  the  whole  mass  be- 
came hard  and  solid.  The  skeletons,  from  certain  pecu- 
liarities of  the  skull,  have  been  pronounced  to  be  those  of 
ancient  Peruvians  ;  and  some  of  them  have  been  found  in 
a  sitting  posture,  which  was  the  usual  mode  of  interment 
adopted  by  that  race.  With  the  skeletons,  and  around 
them,  are  found  arrow-heads,  fragments  of  pottery,  and 
other  articles  of  human  workmanship.  A  limestone,  with 
similar  human  contents,  has  been  formed,  and  is  still 
forming,  in  St.  Domingo ;  and  Prof.  Lyell  says  that  rocks 
still  more  ancient,' referable  to  the  Post-pliocene,  are  also 
to  be  found  in  the  West  Indian  Archipelago,  as  in  Cuba, 
near  Havana,  and  in  other  islands,  in  which  the  shells 
are  identical  with  those  now  living  in  corresponding 
latitudes. 

The  mounds  so  profusely  scattered  over  the  plains  of 
the  West,  especially  in  the  valleys  of  the  Ohio  and  the 
Mississippi,  bespeak  a  race  of  great  antiquity,  and  of  some 
mechanical  skill,  but  of  which  the  present  race  of  Indians 
profess  to  be  altogether  ignorant.  Some  of  these  mounds, 


THE  MOUNDS  OP  THE  WEST.  439 

and  the  ancient  fortifications  near  them,  I  have  examined. 
One  of  the  largest  on  the  Ohio  stands  on  a  broad  terrace 
of  that  river,  twelve  miles  below  the  city  of  Wheeling,  in 
Virginia.  The  borough  of  Mounds ville  derives  its  name 
from  it.  It  is  sixty-nine  feet  in  height,  and  nine  hundred 
in  circumference  at  the  base.  It  stands  perfectly  isolated, 
like  a  vast  dome.  It  was  overgrown  with  trees,  one  of 
which,  according  to  the  annual  rings  of  growth,  betrayed 
an  age  of  over  five  hundred  years.  It  was  a  white  oak, 
and  occupied  a  place  on  the  very  summit  of  the  mound, 
which  has  a  flat  area  of  fifty  feet  in  diameter.  In  driving 
drifts  through  the  mound  to  ascertain  its  contents  and  the 
mature  of  the  work,  several  chambers  were  found,  in  which 
were  human  bones.  The  necks  of  the  skeletons  were 
surrounded  by  many  hundreds  of  ivory  beads,  and  the 
wrists  by  copper  bracelets.  Sea-shells  of  the  involute 
species  were  also  strewn  around,  and  were  probably  worn 
as  ornaments.  Isinglass  or  mica,  in  large  plates,  also  oc- 
curred around  and  over  the  skeletons.  Besides  the  bones, 
there  were  large  deposits  of  what  seemed  to  be  the  burned 
remains  of  bodies — indicating  that  the  great  bulk  of  those 
deposited  therein  had  been  consumed  by  fire  before  inter- 
*ment.  In  addition  to  the  relics  in  this  mound,  a  number 
of  others  have  been  found  in  the  neighborhood  and  all 
over  the  western  country,  many  of  them  associated  with 
bones  and  skeletons  more  or  less  decayed.  The  proprietor 
of  the  mound  land  found,  about  two  miles  from  it,  a  num- 
ber of  porcelain  beads,  in  substance  much  resembling  the 
artificial  teeth  of  dentists.  He  had  also  an  image  carved 
in  stone,  which  he  found  with  other  relics  some  eight  miles 
distant.  It  is  in  human  shape,  sitting  in  a  cramped  posi- 
tion, the  face  and.  eyes  projecting  upward.  The  nose  is 
what  is  called  Roman.  On  the  crown  of  the  head  is  a 
"knot,  in  which  the  hair  is  concentrated  and  tied.  It  is 
eleven  inches  in  height,  but,  if  it  were  straight,  would  be 


440         THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

.  at  least  double  that  length.  The  head  and  features  evince 
no  inconsiderable  skill  and  ingenuity,  and,  as  a  work  of 
art,  it  far  surpasses  any  similar  efforts  of  the  modern 
Indian. 

But  the  most  interesting  object  of  antiquarian  research, 
is  a  small  flat  stone,  inscribed  with  alphabetic  characters, 
which  was  disclosed  on  the  opening  of  the  mound.  These 
characters,  Mr.  Schoolcraft  believes,  are  in  the  ancient 
rock  alphabet,  of  sixteen  right  and  acute-angled  single 
strokes,  used  by  the  Pelasgi,  and  other  early  Mediter- 
ranean nations,  and  which  is  the  parent  of  the  modern 
Runic,  as  well  as  the  Bardic.  The  existence  of  this 
ancient  art  here,  could  hardly  be  admitted  otherwise  than 
as  an  insulated  fact,  without  some  corroborative  evidence 
in  habits  and  customs,  which  it  would  be  reasonable  to 
look  for  in  the  existing  ruins  of  ancient  occupancy.  It  is 
thought  some  such  testimony  has  been  found.  Rude 
towers  of  stone,  commanding  a  view  of  the  adjacent  plain 
and  river,  are  to  be  found  within  the  distance  of  a  few 
miles  back  of  the  mound.  They  were,  no  doubt,  used  for 
look-outs  to  descry  the  approaches  of  an  enemy.  The 
towers  were  surrounded  with  circular  walls,  all  of  which 
have  long  since  fallen  to  the  earth,  leaving  only  the  merest 
traces  of  the  ancient  fortifications.  Several  polished  tubes 
of  stone  have  been  found  in  one  of  the  lesser  mounds,  the 
use  of  which  is  not  very  apparent.  One  of  these  is  twelve 
inches  long,  one  and  a  fourth  inches  wide  at  one  end,  and 
one  and  a  half  at  the  other.  It  is  made  of  a  fine,  com- 
pact, lead-blue,  steatite  mottled,  and  has  been  constructed 
by  boring,  in  the  manner  of  a  gun  barrel.  This  boring  is 
continued  to  within  about  three-eighths  of  an  inch  of  the 
larger  end,  through  which  but  a  small  aperture  is  left  If 
this  aperture  be  looked  through,  objects  at  a  distance 
are  more  clearly  seen.  Whether  it  had  telescopic,  or 
other  powers,  the  degree  of  art  evinced  in  its  construction 


THE    MOUNDS   OF   THE   WEST.  441 

is  far  from  rude.  By  inserting  a  wooden  rod  and  valve, 
this  simple  siphon  would  be  converted  into  a  powerful 
syringe.  Besides  the  mounds,  numerous  remains  of 
ancient  fortifications  occur  in  various  places  in  the  West, 
especially  near  the  city  of  Portsmouth,  in  Ohio,  and  on 
the  upper  Monongahela,  in  Virginia,  and  throughout  the 
State  of  Illinois.  They  indicate  a  race  of  great  antiquity, 
and  of  much  higher  cultivation  than  the  Indians,  who 
really  appear  to  have  no  knowledge  or  traditions  con- 
cerning them. 

But  one  of  the  most  interesting  antiquarian  discoveries 
of  the  present  age,  is  that  of  the  ancient  burial  grounds  in 
Chiriqui,  in  the  State  of  New  Granada,  on  the  narrow 
isthmus  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans.  With 
the  bones  of  an  ancient,  and  perhaps  unknown  race,  this 
discovery  reveals  at  once  an  apparently  very  rich  aurifer- 
ous and  archaeological  treasure.  A  year  since,  the  news- 
papers teemed  with  accounts  of  the  curious  golden  images 
and  metallic  anaglyphs  found  interred  with  the  bodies. 
The  discovery  was  made  in  the  month  of  June,  1859,  and 
is  thus  described : 

"  A  native  of  Bugalita,  a  small  town  in  the  district  of  Boqueron,  in  the 
province  of  Chiriqui,  in  New  Granada,  while  wandering  through  the  forest 
in  the  vicinity  of  his  cabin,  encountered  a  tree  which  had  been  prostrated 
by  a  recent  tempest,  and  underneath  its  upturned  roots  he  perceived  a 
small  earthen  jar.  Upon  examination,  this  proved  to  contain,  wrapped 
in  swathing  of  half-decayed  cloth,  divers  images,  of  curious  and  fantastic 
shape,  and  of  so  yellow  and  shining  a  metal  that  he  at  once  suspected 
them  to  be  gold.  Knowing  that  he  was  in  the  midst  of  an  ancient  Indian 
huaca,  or  burial  ground,  he  immediately  commenced  an  exploration  of  the 
little  burial  mounds  which  were  on  every  side,  suspecting  that  they  also 
might  contain  treasures  of  a  like  character.  The  result  was  that  in  three 
or  four  days,  he  succeeded  in  exhuming  no  less  than  seventy-five  pounds 
weight  of  these  golden  images.  Not  entirely  confident  as  to  the  quality 
and  value  of  the  metal,  he  disclosed  his  discovery  to  his  neighbors,  and 
in  less  than  a  fortnight,  over  a  thousand  persons  were  at  work,  and  ob« 


442        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

tained  over  nine  arrobas  (or  225  Ibs.)  of  images,  most  of  which  proved  to 
be  of  the  finest  gold." 

As  yet,  the  antiquity  of  these  -  sepulchral  remains  is 
involved  in  obscurity.  That  they  date  back  to  a  very 
early  period,  there  can  be  no  question  ;  for  the  present 
tribes  of  Central  American  Indians  have  no  knowledge 
whatever  of  the  huacas  which  abound  throughout  the 
whole  country,  and  are  alike  ignorant  of  the  art  of  making 
the  images,  or  of  the  source  from  which  the  gold  was 
obtained. 

In  a  history  of  New  Granada,  by  Colonel  Joachim 
Acosta,  mention  is  made  of  a  similar  discovery  by  the 
Spaniards  in  the  fifteenth  century.  This  was  at  Zenu,  in 
the  province  of  Antiochia,  in  New  Granada — the  golden 
images  being  in  all  respects  similar.  After  speaking  ot 
the  riches  of  the  Indian  burial  grounds  at  Zenu,  the  his- 
torian observes  :  "  The  cemetery  of  Zenu  was  composed 
of  an  indefinite  number  of  mounds  of  earth,  some  of  a 
conical  form,  and  others  more  or  less  square.  When  an 
Indian  died,  it  was  the  custom  to  dig  a  hole  capable  of 
containing  his  arms  and  jewels,  which  were  placed  in  the 
left-hand  side  of  his  grave,  looking  toward  the  east ;  and 
around  these  were  placed  earthen  vases  containing  chichi 
and  other  fermented  drinks  ;  also  Indian  corn,  and  stones 
to  pound  the  same  ;  also  his  wives  and  slaves  (if  he  was  a 
principal  man),  which  last  thoroughly  intoxicated  them- 
selves previously  to  the  interment ;  and  then  the  whole 
was  covered  over  with  a  species  of  red  earth  brought 
from  a  distance.  Then  the  mourning  commenced,  which 
lasted  as  long  as  there  remained  any  thing  to  drink  ;  while, 
in  the  mean  time,  the  mourners  continued  to  throw  earth 
upon  the  grave  ;  thus  it  was  elevated  according  to  the 
ability  of  the  individual  or  family  to  provide  a  greater  or 
less  quantity  of  liquor."  Jewels  of  gold,  in  'large  or  small 
quantities,  were  found  in  all  the  t^nibs.  In  some  were 


ANTIQUITIES   OF   CENTRAL   AMERICA.  443* 

golden  figures  representing  every  species  of  animals,  from 
man  to  the  ant,  and  sometimes  to  the  value  of  ten  or 
twenty  thousand  dollars. 

Mr.  E.  G.  Squiers,  who  formerly  represented  the  United 
States  as  Charge  d*  Affaires,  in  some  of  the  Central 
American  states,  and  who  is  well  known  for  his  learning 
and  antiquarian  researches,  has  written  a  book  on  the 
antiquities  of  that  remarkable  region.  In  a  recent  com- 
munication, he  says  that  it  "  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that 
the  occurrence  of  these  images,  in  considerable  numbers, 
in  the  Indian  graves  of  that  district,  is  a  late  discovery. 
Large  quantities  have  been  taken  out,  from  time  to  time, 
for  many  years  past ;  and  he  was  informed  by  the  late 
Governor  of  the  Bank  of  England,  that  several  thousand 
pounds'  worth  were  annually  remitted  from  the  Isth- 
mus, as  bullion,  to  that  establishment.  Most  of  the 
figures  which  he  saw  at  the  bank  were  exceedingly  rude, 
but  there  were  a  few  among  them  ,of  relatively  fine  design 
and  good  workmanship.  None,  however,  were  quite  equal 
in  either  respect  to  some  relics  dug  up  during  the 
construction  of  the  Panama  railway,  and  which  were 
found  about  seven  miles  from  Panama,  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  Rio  Grande,  six  feet  below  the  surface  of  the 
ground.  Trees  between  two  and  three  feet  in  diameter 
were  growing  over  them. 

As  to  the  origin  and  date  of  the  golden  relics  of  Chiri- 
qui,  Mr.  Squiers  thinks  there  can  be  no  doubt.  Colum- 
bus, when  he  discovered  Chiriqui  Lagoon,  in  his  fourth 
voyage,  found  all  the  chiefs  and  important  people  deco- 
rated with  these  and  similar  ornaments,  which,  he  says  in 
his  relation,  gave  him  "  great  promise  of  the  richness 
of  the  country  in  gold  and  silver."  Hence  he  named  the 
district  Castilla  del  Oro  ;  and  hence  the  coast  came  to  be 
known  as  Costa  Rica,  or  rich  coast — a  name  still  pre- 
served as  that  of  the  State  of  Central  America  adjoining 


•444        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

the  Isthmus.  He  mentions  particularly,  among  the  orna- 
ments worn  by  the  chiefs,  great  plates  or  mirrors  of  gold, 
suspended  on  their  breasts,  "  which  they  would  neither 
sell  nor  exchange."  Columbus  adds,  that  the  Indians 
cast  gold  with  some  degree  of  skill,  "  but  in  no  way  equal 
to  the  Spaniards."  He  says  also,  that  "in  all  the  regions 
around  Veragua,  the  Indians  inter  with  their  chiefs,  when 
they  die,  all  the  gold  which  they  possess.  "  Thus  it  is," 
he  continues,  in  a  moralizing  strain,  "that  all  men  seek 
gold ;  they  barter  all  they  can  spare  of  their  produce  for 
gold  ;  gold  is  excellent ;  with  it  they  lay  up  wealth  here  ; 
and  they  even  take  it  to  their  grave,  as-  a  comfort  to  their 
souls  hereafter.  Alas  !  for  the  follies  of  men  who  know 
not  that  gold  is  only  valuable  in  its  use,  not  in  its  accu- 
mulation. " 

The  images  and  anaglyphs  thus  far  brought  to  light, 
amount  to  several  thousand.  In  their  general  character 
they  bear  a  very  striking  resemblance  to  the  designs  and 
figures  of  the  ancient  Egyptians,  Assyrians,  and  Baby- 
lonians— such  as  are  found  rudely  carved  in  relief  upon 
their  obelisks,  or  on  the  alabaster  slabs  with  which  they 
paneled  the  apartments  and  broad  avenues  of  their  pal- 
aces. The  fact  of  nearly  all  their  artistic  designs  being 
based  upon  the  animal  creation,  instead  of  the  varied 
phases  of  the  human  countenance,  and  symbolical  of  hu- 
man thoughts,  acts,  and  events,  seems  to  imply  that,  like  the 
Egyptians  and  some  other  nations  of  the  remote  antiquity, 
most  of  the  animals  were  held  in  religious  veneration,  and 
embodied  some  of  the  functions  attributed  to  gods — hence 
they  may  have  served  as  household  idols,  and  were  buried 
with  the  heads  of  the  families  who  possessed  them.  We 
thus  find  the  body  of  the  South  American  tapir  mounted 
on  a  bell ;  the  snout  of  a  shark  furnished  with  the  claws 
of  a  crab  ;  the  dog  represented  with  a  gigantic  head,  and 
a  tail  terminating  in  another 'head,  partly  canine  and 


INDIANS   OF   CENTRAL   AMERICA.  445 

partly  serpentine  ;  the  body  of  a  crab  having  the  arms  of 
a  man  ;  beetles  with  human  head  and  arms  ;  vultures  with 
outstretched  wings,  mounted  on  a  pyramidal  pedestal, 
etc.  Besides  these,  there  are  unmutilated  or  uncombined 
figures  of  men,  of  toads,  crocodiles,  serpents,  dogs,  birds, 
etc.  Judgingffrom  the  specimens  already  found,  there  is 
scarcely  an  animal  now  living  that  has  not  been  intro- 
duced into  the  curious  religious  mythology  of  this  race. 
The  resemblance  between  their  works  and  those  of  the 
aborigines  of  North  America  is  also  peculiarly  striking — 
though  the  latter  would  appear  to  have  been  inferior. 
But  the  accounts  given  by  Col.  Joachim  Acosta,  in  his 
history  of  New  Granada,  of  the  mode  of  burial  pursued 
by  the  Indians  of  Zenu,  previous  to  the  conquest  of  the 
Spaniards,  would  appear  to  be  equally  applicable  to  the 
predecessors  of  the  present  North  American  Indians. 
The  graves,  in  both  cases,  were  usually  conical  or  pyrami- 
dal, and  were  large  or  small  in  proportion  to  the  wealth, 
or  the  social,  official,  or  religious  standing  of  the  deceased. 
The  mound  on  the  Ohio,  must  therefore  have  contained 
the  remains  of  a  person  of  the  highest  distinction,  from  its 
enormous  dimensions  ;  and  this  inference  derives  strength 
from  the  circumstance  that  but  a  few  bodies  were  discov- 
ered in  it — the  first,  or  lowest  skeleton,  having  been  sep- 
arated from  the  others  by  a  considerable  stratum  of  earth. 
It  is  probable  that  all  the  bodies  in  this  mound  were 
members  of  the  same  family,  or  held  a  similar  official  pos- 
ition in  the  community.  Col.  Acosta  also  mentions  that 
the  bodies  in  Zenu  were  surrounded  by  a  peculiar  red 
earth,  brought  from  a  distance ;  and  it  is  singular  that 
large  quantities  of  such  red  earth  are  found  in  the  graves 
of  the  Ohio  mounds.  The  beads,  pottery,  images,  inscrip- 
tions, and  other  works  of  art  accompanying  the  remains 
of  the  bodies  in  the  mound,  are  of  a  similar  character  to 
those  of  Chiriqui ;  but,  instead  of  gold,  they  are  fabricated 


446        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

of  copper  and  other  baser  material.  The  ancient  mining 
operations  of  Lake  Superior  were  possibly  prosecuted  by 
these  people,  and  furnished  the  supplies  of  that  mineral, 
by  which  they  wrought  the  trinkets  and  bracelets  found 
in  their  graves.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  I  think,  of  the 
identity  of  the  two  races ;  for,  in  addition  to  a  similarity 
in  their  habits  and  works,  the  Indians  that  succeeded 
them  are  in  both  cases  perfectly  ignorant  of  their  prede- 
cessors, and  have  no  knowledge  of  the  mechanical  arts 
which  distinguished  them.  The  ancient  race  was,  in 
every  point  of  view,  the  superior  of  the  existing  Indians ; 
and  have  left  behind  works  that  bespeak  a  considerable 
degree  of  civilization. 

The  palaces  and  works  of  art  discovered  by  Stephens 
in  Central  America,  (especially  at  Pelenque,  and  Cazmel, 
off  the  coast  of  Yucatan,)  appear  to  belong  to  a  similar 
race  of  people,  but  of  a  still  higher  degree  of  civilization. 
Among  these  ruins  are  gigantic  pyramids  and  figures  in 
bas-relief,  together  with  hieroglyphic  inscriptions.  The 
pyramids  are  capped  with  buildings,  leading  to  the  infer- 
ence that  they  may  have  been  used  for  terrestrial  or 
astronomical  observations  :  but  in  this  respect  differ  from 
those  of  Egypt.  Mr.  Stephens  is  of  opinion  that  there  is 
no  identity  between  the  Central  American  aborigines  and 
the  Egyptians,  notwithstanding  the  similarity  of  their 
style  of  architecture,  and  especially  in  their  sculptured 
figures.  In  this  opinion,  however,  he  stands  alone ;  as 
nearly  every  other  traveler  who  has  described  them,  as- 
signs an  Egyptian  origin  to  the  race  that  produced  them. 
As  to  their  antiquity,  no  doubt  is  entertained  on  that 
point,  some  persons  having  even  attributed  to  them  an 
antediluvian  origin.  However  this  may  be,  there  is  no 
question  as  to  the  development  of  the  race  in  the  fine  and 
useful  arts  ;  and  all  the  works  left  behind  attest  the  Egyp- 
tian aspect  of  their  civilization,  manners,  and  idiosyn- 


I/TSCOVERY   OF  AMERICA  BY  THE   NORTHMEN.          447 

crasies,  to  a  greater  extent  than  those  of  any  other  peo- 
ple, ancient  or  modern. 

The  present  race  of  Indians  was  in  existence  at  the  first 
colonization  of  North  America.  Although  it  was  succes- 
sively explored  by  the  French,  Dutch,  Spanish,  and  Eng- 
lish, not  a  trace  of  the  previous  inhabitants  could  be 
found.  The  existing  Indians  were  everywhere  masters 
of  the  soil,  and  their  habits  and  customs  of  life  were  such, 
that  they  presented  no  identity  whatever  with  the  extinct 
race  interred  in  the  mounds.  And  that  it  was  at  one 
time  very  populous,  and  spread  over  a  vast  extent  of 
country,  is  sufficiently  manifest  in  the  number  and  geo- 
graphical distribution  of  the  mounds  themselves,  and  the 
evidences  of  their  mining  operations.  Their  antiquity  in 
North  America  is  thus  carried  back  beyond  the  fifteenth 
century,  during  which  time  the  country  was  settled  by 
missionaries,  and  explorers  from  several  European  gov- 
ernments ;  while  in  South  America  it  was,  at  least,  far 
anterior  to  the  period  of  Columbus'  visit  to  Costa  Rica, 
shortly  after  which  it  appears  to  have  degenerated,  and 
been  superseded  by  the  present  Indian  natives.  It  is 
probable  that  those  of  South  America,  attracted  by  its 
gold,  silver,  and  precious  metals,  absorbed  the  race  from 
North  America,  and  under  the  stimulus  of  such  discov- 
eries, it  may  have  attained  a  somewhat  higher  civilization. 
This,  however,  is  questionable ;  as  it  may  be  doubted 
whether  the  golden  anaglyphs  of  Chiriqui  exhibit  more 
skill  than  the  beads,  pottery,  and  other  ornaments  of  stone 
and  copper  found  in  the  western  mounds. 

But  many  centuries  before  Columbus  visited  South 
America,  portions  of  North  America  had  been  seen,  and 
afterwards  colonized  to  some  extent,  by  the  Northmen, 
via  Greenland  and  Iceland. 

"  America  was  discovered  in  the  year  1000,  by  Leif,  the  son  of  Eric  the 
Red,  by  the  northern  route,  and  as  far  as  41°  30'  north  latitude.     (Part* 
29 


448        THE  SEVENTH  DAY— THE  SABBATH. 

of  America  were  seen,  although  no  landing  was  made,  fourteen  years  be- 
fore,  in  the  voyage  which  Bjarne  Hevpelfsson  undertook  from  Greenland 
to  the  southward,  in  986.  Leif  first  saw  the  land  at  the  island  of  Nan- 
tucket,  1°  south  of  Boston  ;  then  in  Nova  Scotia,  and  lastly  in  Newfound- 
land, which  was  subsequently  called  '  Litla  Kelouland,'  but  never  'Vin- 
land/ The  gulf,  whieh  divides  Newfoundland  from  the  mouth  of  the  great 
river  St.  Lawrence,  was  called  by  the  Northmen,  who  had  set-tied  in  Ice- 
land and  Greenland,  Markland's  Gulf.)  The  first,  although  accidental 
incitement  toward  this  event,  emanated  from  Norway.  Toward  the  close 
of  the  ninth  century,  Naddod  was  driven  by  storms  to  Iceland,  while  at- 
tempting to  reach  the  Faroe  Islands,  which  had  already  been  visited  by 
the  Irish.  The  first  settlement  of  the  Northmen  was  made  in  875,  by 
Ingolf.  Greenland,  the  eastern  peninsula  of  a  land  which  appears  to  be 
everywhere  separated  by  the  sea  from  America  proper,  was  only  seen, 
although  it  was  first  peopled  from  Iceland  a  hundred  years  later,  (983.) 
The  colonization  of  Iceland,  which  Naddod  first  called  Snowland,  was 
carried  through  Greenland  in  a  southwestern  direction  to  the  New  Conti- 
nent. Notwithstanding  the  proximity  of  the  opposite  shores  of  Labra- 
dor, 125  years  elapsed  from  the  first  settlement  of  the  Northmen  in  Ice- 
land, to  Leifs  great  discovery  of  America.  So  small  were  the  means 
possessed  by  a  noble,  enterprising,  but  not  wealthy  race,  for  furthering 
navigation  in  these  remote  and  dreary  regions  of  the  earth.  The  littoral 
tracts  of  Vinland,  so  called  by  the  German  Tyrker,  from  the  wild  grapes 
which  are  found  there  delighted  its  discoverers  by  the  fruitfulness  of  the 
soil  and  the  mildness  of  its  climate,  when  compared  with  Iceland  and 
Greenland.  This  tract  comprised  the  coast  line  between  Boston  and  New 
York,  and  consequently,  parts  of  the  present  States  of  Massachusetts, 
Rhode  Island,  and  Connecticut.  This  was  the  principal  settlement  of  the 
Northmen.  The  colonists  had  often  to  contend  with  a  very  warlike 
race  of  Esquimaux,  who  then  extended  further  to  the  South,  under  the 
name  of  the  Skralingers.  The  first  Bishop  of  Greenland,  Eric  Upsi,  an 
Icelander,  undertook,  in  1121,  a  Christian  mission  to  Vinland,  (the  name 
of  this  settlement  at  that  time,)  and  the  name  of  the  colonized  country  has 
even  been  discovered  in  old  national  songs  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Faroe  Islands."* 

The  discovery  and  settlement  of  America  by  the  North- 
men, thus  carries  our  knowledge  of  it  back  to  the  year  986. 
At  that  time  there  appears  to  have  been  two  distinct  races 
inhabiting  it,  besides  the  Norwegians  themselves.  The 

*  Baron  Von  Humboldt,  quoting  Caroli  Christian!  Rafu,  Antiquitatei 
A**ricanas,— Cosmos,  vol.  ii,  p.  230. 


COLONIZATION   OF   AMERICA.  449 

Skralingers,  (whom  they  supposed  to  be  Esquimaux,) 
told  them  of  another  race,  living  still  further  southward, 
beyond  the  Chesapeake  bay.  They  were  described  as 
"  lohite  men,  who  clothed  themselves  in-  long  white  gar- 
ments, and  carried  before  them  poles  to  which  cloths  were 
attached,  and  called  in  a  loud  voice."  This  account  was 
interpreted  by  the  Christian  Northmen  to  indicate  proces- 
sions, in  which  banners  were  borne,  accompanied  by 
singing. 

"An  opinion,"  says  Humboldt,  "has  been  advanced  by 
some  northern  antiquaries  that,  as  in  the  oldest  Icelandic 
documents  the  first  inhabitants  of  the  island  are  called 
West  Men,  who  had  come  across  the  sea,  Iceland  was  not 
at  first  peopled  directly  from  Europe,  but  from  Virginia 
and  Carolina,  (Great  Ireland,  the  American  White  Men's 
Land,)  by  Irishmen  who  had  earlier  emigrated  to  America. 
The  important  work,  De  Mensura  Orbis  Terrce,  composed 
by  an  Irish  monk,  Dicuil,  about  the  year  825,  and  there- 
fore thirty-eight  years  before  the  Northmen  acquired  their 
knowledge  of  Iceland  from  Naddod,  does  not,  however, 
confirm  this  opinion."  Humboldt  makes  various  other 
suggestions  to  show  the  fallacy  of  this  opinion, — which 
apply  equally  to  the  theory  of  Catlin  of  the  descent  of  the 
Tuscaroras  from  the  Welsh,  or  of  those  of  various  other 
antiquaries  who,  by  linguistic  characters,  seek  to  ally  the 
Indians  with  English,  French,  or  other  European  na- 
tions. 

"  That  the  first  discovery  of  America, ".adds  Humboldt, 
"should  not  have  produced  the  important  and  permanent 
results  yielded  by  the  re-discovery  of  the  same  continent 
by  Columbus,  was  the  necessary  consequence  of  the  un- 
civilized condition  of  the  people,  and  the  nature  of  the 
countries  to  which  the  early  discoveries  were  limited. 
The  Scandinavians  were  wholly  unprepared,  by  previous 
scientific  knowledge,  for  exploring  the  countries  in-  which 


450        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

'they  settled,  beyond  what  was  absolutely  necessary  for 
the  satisfaction  of  their  immediate  wants.  Greenland  and 
Iceland,  which  must  be  regarded  as  the  Northern  coun- 
tries of  the  new  colonies  (in  America),  were  regions  in 
which  man  had  to  contend  with  all  the  hardships  of  an 
inhospitable  climate.  The  wonderfully  organized  free 
state  of  Iceland,  nevertheless,  maintained  its  independence 
for  three  centuries  and  a  half,  until  civil  freedom  was 
annihilated,  and  the  country  became  a  subject  of  Norway. 
The  flower  of  Icelandic  literature,  its  historical  records, 
and  the  collection  of  the  Sagas  and  Eddas,  appertain  to 
the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries."* 

The  accounts  which  the  Northmen  give  of  the  people 
called  Skralingers,  although  represented  as  warlike,  forbid 
the  idea  that  they  erected  the  western  mounds,  or  that 
they  dug  copper,  and  wrought  utensils  and  sculpture. 
The  allusion  to  the  white  people  south  of  them,  is,  how- 
ever, significant ;  for  all  the  relics  hitherto  found,  betray- 
ing the  least  degree  of  civilization,  are  south  and  west  of 
the  Chesapeake  Bay. 

It  has  been  suggested  by  some  antiquaries  that  the 
original  aborigines  of  America  were  derived  from  Asiatic 
stock,  and  that  they  effected  an  easy  passage  from  one 
continent  to  the  other  at  Behring's  Straits,  by  means  of 
the  ice  which  generally  blockades  the  channel  during 
winter.  These  straits,  at  the  narrowest  points,  are  not 
over  forty  miles  in  width.  If  a  passage  was  effected  in 
vessels,  it  is  equally  probable  that  they  may  have  crossed 
further  south,  from  the  coast  of  Japan,  or  from  the  Ku- 
bile  Islands  to  those  of  the  Aleutian,  which  stretch  several 
hundred  miles  into  the  ocean  from  the  Pacific  coast  of 
America.  In  this  latter  case,  the  distance  from  one 
island  to  the  other  would  hardly  exceed  from  fifty  to  one 

*  Humboldt's  Cosmos,  vol.  ii.  p.  237. 


ANCIENT   INHABITANTS   OF   AMERICA.  451 

hundred  miles,  except  in  the  main  channel  of  the  ocean 
where  it  would  perhaps  exceed  two  or  three  hundred. 
But  as  all  the  islands  from  Kamtschatka  to  Borneo,  on 
the  one  side,  and  from  Behring's  Straits  to  the  Cordilleras 
•>f  South  America,  on  the  other,  are  volcanic,  it  is  at  least 
possible  that  the  Aleutian  chain  at  one  time  extended  all 
the  way  across  the  ocean — leaving  but  a  few  miles  of  dis- 
tance intermediate  between  them.  It  is  equally  probable, 
however,  that  Behring's  Straits,  at  a  period  not  very 
remote,  may  have  had  no  existence  in  fact — that  it  afforded 
a  narrow  isthmus  which  connected  the  two  continents. 
The  formation  on  both  sides  is  the  same — that  of  the 
hypozoic  rocks,  some  of  which,  in  the  form  of  huge 
boulders  or  fractured  masses,  still  lie  scattered  in  the 
narrow  channel  in  the  form  of  ragged  peaks  and  ice-clad 
islands.  If  the  straits  were  thus  traversed  by  an  isthmus 
(or  whether  they  were  or  not),  there  is  little  difficulty  in 
referring  the  origin  of  the  American  aborigines  to  an 
Asiatic  source  ;  for  they  naturally  resolve  themselves  into 
the  Mongolian  group.  And  we  might,  with  equal  pro- 
priety, fuse  the  Malayan  into  the  African  type,  after  which 
we  should  have  but  three  leading  divisions  of  the  human 
species,  corresponding  with  the  three  great  continents 
of  the  old  world,  viz.,  the  Caucasian,  the  Mongolian,  and 
the  Ethiopian,  and  with  the  descendants  of  the  three  sons 
of  Noah, — Ham,  Shem,  and  Japheth. 

But,  with  the  limited  knowledge  thus  far  obtained  of 
these  ancient  people,  it  would  be  idle  to  speculate  upon 
their  origin,  the  probable  date  of  their  arrival,  and  the 
means  by  which  they  reached  the  American  continent. 
The  whole  subject,  as  yet,  is  too  obscure  to  justify  lengthy 
antiquarian  disquisitions.  But  it  is  nevertheless  a  very 
pertinent  fact,  that  the  characters  inscribed  on  a  stone 
slab,  interred  with  the  bodies  in  the  mound  at  Mounds- 
ville,  present  a  striking  resemblance  to  the  cuneiform  or 


452        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

wedge-shaped  letters  of  the  ancient  Pelasgians  and  As- 
syrians. Mr.  Layard  remarks,  that  it  is  not  improbable 
that  the  cuneiform  letters  were  originally  formed  by  lines, 
for  which  the  wedge  was  afterward  substituted  as  an 
embellishment;  and  that  the  character  itself  may  once 
have  resembled  the  picture  writing  of  Egypt,  though  all 
traces  of  its  ideographic  properties  have  been  lost.  The 
Assyrians,  like  the  Egyptians,  possessed  at  a  later  period 
a  cursive  writing,  resembling  the  rounded  character  of  the 
Phoenicians,  Palmyrenes,  Babylonians,  and  Jews,  which 
was  probably  used  for  written  documents,  while  the 
cuneiform  was  reserved  for  monumental  purposes.  There 
is  this  great  difference  between  the  two  forms  of  writing, 
which  appears  to  point  to  a  distinct  origin ; — the  cunei- 
form runs  always  from  left  to  right,  the  cursive  from  right 
to  left.  The  cuneiform,  under  various  modifications,  the 
letters  being  differently  formed  in  different  countries,  pre- 
vailed over  the  greater  part  of  Western  Asia  to  the  time 
of  the  overthrow  of  the  Persian  empire  by  Alexander  the 
Great. 

The  inscription  on  the  Moundsville  stone,  I  believe, 
has  never  been  deciphered.  Mr.  Schoolcraft,  however, 
identifies  the  letters  as  belonging  to  the  alphabet  of  the 
ancient  Pelasgi,  and  other  early  tribes  inhabiting  the 
shores  of  the  Mediterranean.  Their  alphabet  consisted 
of  sixteen  letters,  formed  by  right  and  acute-angled  strokes, 
and  was  no  doubt  derived,  as  they  themselves  were,  from 
the  Assyrians  or  Babylonians.  If  Mr.  Schoolcraft  is 
correct  (and  we  know  of  nothing  to  impair  his  testimony 
since  the  time  it  was  rendered),  the  people  interred  in  the 
mounds  were  among  the  earliest  generations  of  the  earth, 
and  must  have  reached  this  continent  about  the  time  that 
the  Egyptians,  under  Cecrops,  founded  the  Kingdom  of 
Athens,  which  occurred  15562/ears  before  the  birth  of  Christ. 
Previous  to  this  period,  the  southern  corner  of  Europe, 


DISTRIBUTION   OF   THE   ANCIENT   RACES  OF   MAN.       453 

comprehended  between  the  36°  and  41°  of  latitude,  bor- 
dering on  Epirus  and  Macedonia  toward  the  north,  and 
on  other  sides  surrounded  by  the  sea,  was  inhabited,  above 
eighteen  centuries  before  the  Christian  era,  by  many 
small  tribes  of  hunters  and  shepherds,  among  whom  the 
Pelasgi  and  Hellenes  were  the  most  powerful  and  nu- 
merous. 

"  The  barbarous  Pelasgi  venerated  Gracchus  as  their  founder;  and  for  a 
similar  reason  the  more  humane  Hellenes  respected  Deucalion.  From  his 
son  Hellen,  they  derived  their  general  appellation,  which  originally  de- 
noted a  small  tribe  in  Thessaly ;  and  from  Dorus,  Bolus,  and  Ion,  his 
more  remote  descendants,  they  were  discriminated  by  the  names  of  Dorians, 
Eolians,  and  lonians.  The  Dorians  took  possession  of  that  mountainous 
district  of  Greece,  afterward  called  Doris  j  the  lonians,  whose  name  was 
in  some  measure  lost  in  the  illustrious  appellation  of  Athenians,  set- 
tled in  the  less  barren  parts  of  Attica  j  and  the  Eolians  peopled  Elis  and 
Arcadia,  the  western  and  inland  regions  of  the  Peloponnesus.  .Notwith- 
standing many  partial  migrations,  these  three  original  divisions  of  the 
Hellenes  generally  entertained  an  affection  for  the  establishments  which 
had  been  preferred  by  the  wisdom  or  caprice  of  their  respective  ancestors  j 
a  circumstance  which  remarkably  distinguished  the  Hellenic  from  the 
Pelatgic  race.  While  the  former  discovered  a  degree  of  attachment  for 
their  native  land,  seldom  found  in  barbarians,  who  live  by  hunting  or 
pasturage,  the  latter,  disdaining  fixed  habitations,  wandered  in  large  bod- 
ies over  Greece,  or  transported  themselves  into  the  neighboring  islands;  and 
the  most  considerable  portion  of  them  gradually  removing  to  the  coasts 
of  Italy  and  Thrace,  the  remainder  melted  away  into  the  Doric  and  Ionic 
tribes.  At  the  distance  of  twelve  centuries,  obscure  traces  of  the  Pelasgi 
occurred  in  several  Grecian  cities ;  a  district  of  Thessaly  always  retained 
their  name  ;  their  colonies  continued,  in  the  fifth  century  before  Christ, 
to  inhabit  the  southern  coast  of  Italy,  and  the  shores  of  the  Hellespont;  and 
in  these  widely-separated  countries,  their  ancient  affinity  was  recognized 
in  the  uniformity  of  their  rude  dialect  and  barbarous  manners,  extremely 
dissimilar  to  the  customs  and  language  of  their  Grecian  neighbors."* 

The  JSToachian  deluge  occurred  1656  years  after  the 
creation  of  Adam.  In  less  than  150  years  after  the  flood, 
Nirnrod,  the  son  of  Chus,  grandson  of  Ham,  and  great- 

*  Dr.  Gillas,  History  of  Ancient  Greece,  p.  12. 


454        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

grandson  of  Noah,  founded  the  empire  of  Assyria,  and 
built  the  city  of  Babylon,  and  afterward  that  of  Nineveh. 
Moses  speaks  of  him  as  a  "  mighty  one  in  the  earth,"  and 
as  having  distinguished  himself  as  a  hunter.  Only  six 
years  after  the  founding  of  Babylon,  (A.  M.  1816,)  Menes 
or  Misraim,  a  son  of  Ham,  settled  in  Egypt ;  and  in  six 
and  a  quarter  centuries  thereafter,  (A.  M.  2448,)  colonies 
from  Egypt,  under  Cecrops,  founded  Athens.  Now,  it  is 
a  very  remarkable  circumstance  that,  from  the  reigns  of 
Semiramis  and  Ninyas,  the  third  and  fourth  successors 
of  Nimrod,  to  that  of  Phul  and  Sardanapalus,  a  period  of 
over  fourteen  centuries,  absolutely  nothing  is  known  of  the 
ancient  empire  of  Assyria.  Although  the  ruins  of  Nine- 
veh have  been  exhumed,  and  its  buried  sphinxes,  human- 
headed  bulls,  winged  animals,  and  sculptured  panels,  have 
been  redeemed  from  the  oblivious  dust  of  centuries,  but  lit- 
tle has  been  added  to  our  previous  knowledge  of  its  more  an- 
cient history.  Some  two  or  three  centuries  after  the  found- 
ing of  Babylon,  and  the  confusion  of  languages  in  the  tower 
of  Babel,  we  find  the  country  overrun  with  roving  tribes 
of  hunters  and  shepherds}  and  under  the  circumstances, 
we  are  bound  to  infer  that  all  or  most  of  them  were  off- 
shoots from  the  kingdom  of  Nimrod,  and  that  they  car- 
ried with  them  some  of  the  principles,  habits,  and  arts, 
which  distinguished  his  race.  Among  these  we  include 
the  Pelasgi — a  people  of  varied  habits,  but  like  Nimrod, 
their  ancestor,  especially  distinguished  as  hunters,  and  for 
their  more  barbarous,  roving,  and  adventurous  disposition 
as  compared  with  the  Hellenes.  When,  however,  after  the 
lapse  of  three  or  four  more  centuries,  the  territory  of  these 
roving  tribes  was  invaded  by  colonies  of  Egyptians,  and 
the  kingdom  of  Cecrops  founded,  it  is  highly  probable 
that  their  religion  and  habits  were  gradually  absorbed  into 
those  of  the  more  enlightened,  enterprising,  and  powerful 
races  If  f  this  supposition  be  correct, —  (and  all  the 


ANCIENT   COLONIZATION   OF   AMERICA.  455 

facts  of  history,  tend  to  confirm  ft  in  a  most  remarkable 
manner,)  we  at  once  obtain  a  key  to  the  origin  and  mean- 
ing of  the  images  and  other  works  of  art  strewn  over  the 
American  continent  by  its  aborigines.  They  were  the 
work  of  the  Pelasgic  descendants  of  the  Egyptians. 
Moved  with  the  spirit  of  emigration  and  colonization 
which  prevailed  at  that  early  period,  they  carried  with 
them  to  the  new  world  the  religion  of  the  Egyptians,  with 
the  original  instincts  for  hunting  and  adventure  of  the 
Pelasgi.  Being  thus  a  race  of  hunters,  and  moving  about 
from  place  to  place  in  quest  of  novelty,  adventure,  and 
game,  they  built  but  few  cities  or  palaces,  and  hence  have 
left  little  else  behind  except  their  conical  mounds  and 
pyramids  ;  their  rude  towers  and  walls  ;  their  ornaments 
and  idols  of  gold  and  brass  ;  their  utensils  of  stone  and 
earth. 

The  Egyptians  had  a  great  number  of  gods,  but  only 
two  of  them  were  universal,  viz.,  Osiris  and  Isis,  supposed 
to  represent  the  sun  and  moon.  Both  of  these  are  typi- 
fied in  the  Chiriqui  anaglyphs,  but  in  a  manner  someAvhat 
obscure.  But  besides  these,  they  worshiped  nearly  every 
known  animal,  as  well  as  certain  vegetables.  Among  those 
most  popular  were  the  ox,  the  cat,  the  wolf,  the  dog,  the 
hawk,  the  owl,  the  crocodile,  the  ibis,  the  ichneumon,  etc. 
While  some  of  these  were  held  in  the  highest  estimation 
by  certain  tribes  or  cities,  they  were  the  superstitious 
abomination  of  others,  and  not  unfrequently  were  the  un- 
conscious means  of  fomenting  fraternal  dissensions  and 
bloody  hostilities  between  tribes.  Juvenal  satirized  these 
varied  gods  in  the  following  lines  : 

"Who  has  not  heard  where  Egypt's  realms  are  nnmed, 
What  monster-gods  her  frantic  sons  have  framed  ? 
Here  Ibis,  gorged  with  well-known  serpents,  there 
The  crocodile  commands  religious  fe&i. 
Where  Memnon's  statue  magic  strings  inspire 
With  vocal  sounds  that  emulate  the  lyro; 


456        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

And  Thebes,  (such,  Fate,  are  thy  disastrous  turns !) 
Now  prostrate  o'er  her  pompous  ruins  mourns; 
A  monkey-god, — prodigious  to  be  told  ! — 
Strikes  the  beholder's  eye  with  burnished  gold. 
To  godship  here  blue  Triton's  scaly  herd, 
The  river  progeny  is  there  preferred  j 
Through  towns  Diana's  power  neglected  lies, 
Where  to  her  dogs  aspiring  temples  rise  j 
And  should  you  leeks  or  onions  eat,  no  time 
Would  expiate  the  sacrilegious  crime. 
Religious  nations  sure,  and  blest  abodes, 
Where  every  orchard  is  o'erruu  with  gods  !" 

Nearly  every  nation  of  antiquity  had  a  superstitious 
veneration  for  certain  animals  or  idols,  which  they  wor- 
shiped under  the  pretext  of  symbolical  gods.  "  Philoso- 
phers," says  Plutarch,  "  honor  the  image  of  God  wherever 
they  find  it,  even  in  inanimate  beings,  and  consequently 
more  in  those  which  have  life.  We  are  therefore  to  ap- 
prove, not  the  worshipers  of  these  animals,  but  those  who. 
by  their  means,  ascend  to  the  Deity ;  they  are  to  be  con- 
sidered as  so  many  mirrors,  which  Nature  holds  forth, 
and  in  which  the  Supreme  Being  displays  himself  in  a 
wonderful  manner ;  or,  as  so  many  instruments  which  he 
makes  use  of  to  manifest  outwardly  his  incomprehensible 
wisdom." 

"  Among  us,"  says  Cicero,  "  it  is  very  common  to  see 
temples  robbed,  and  statues  carried  away;  but  it  was 
never  known  that  any  person  in  Egypt  ever  abused  an 
ibis,  a  crocodile,  or  a  cat ;  for  its  inhabitants  would  have 
suffered  the^  most  extreme  torments  rather  than  be  guilty 
of  such  sacrilege."  It  is  supposed  that  the  celebrated 
Pythagoras  derived  his  doctrine  of  the  transmigration  of 
the  soul  from  the  Egyptians ;  for  their  attachment  and 
veneration  for  animals  would  appear  to  have  been  founded 
on  the  belief  that,  at  the  death  of  men,  their  souls  trans- 
migrated into  other  human  bodies ;  but  that,  if  they  had 
been  vicious  during  life,  they  were  imprisoned  in  the 


DISPERSION   OF   THE   NOACHIAN   FAMILY.  451 

bodies  of  unclean  animals,  to  expiate  in  them  their  past 
transgressions.  Who  can  doubt  but  that  this  idea  formed 
the  basis  of  the  religion,  whatever  it  may  have  been  in 
other  essentials,  of  the  American  aborigines,  and  espe- 
cially of  the  Central  American  race,  whose  relics,  have 
been  exhumed  ?  Why  surround  their  dead  with  the  im- 
ages of  animals,  unless,  during  life,  they  were  regarded 
with  superstitious  veneration  ?  Why  repeat  the  follies  of 
the  Egyptians  ? — why  rear  gigantic  mounds  and  pyramids, 
and  carve  in  gold,  and  brass,  and  stone,  the  forms  of  dogs, 
and  vultures,  and  crocodiles,  and  crabs,  if  there  was  not  a 
connection,  more  or  less  direct,  with  the  prevailing  idio- 
syncrasies and  superstitious  religion  of  the  original  inhab- 
itants of  the  Nile,  the  Euphrates,  and  the  Mediterranean  ? 

But  we  obtain,  in  the  religion,  and  superstition,  and  the 
artistic  works  and  evident  hunting  proclivities  of  the 
Pelasgic- Egyptian  race,  not  only  a  clew  to  the  origin  of 
the  American  aborigines,  but  also  to  the  introduction  on 
the  American  continent  and  the  various  islands  of  the 
ocean,  of  many  of  the  animals  belonging  to  the  original 
Adamite  creation  ;  but  more  especially  those  of  the  domes- 
tic kind,  as  th.e  horse,  sheep,  cattle,  goats,  dogs,  cats,  etc. 
The  remains  of  these  animals,  wherever  found,  are  co- 
temporary  with  man,  and  none  of  them — no,  not  one  of 
them — existed  here  before  the  Noachian  deluge  ! 

It  would  be  foreign  to  the  main  purpose  of  this  work, 
and  would  absorb  altogether  too  much  space,  to  trace  the 
diffusion  of  the  human  race,  after  the  flood,  from  Noah 
and  his  sons.  After  the  landing  of  the  ark  on  the  moun- 
tains of  Ararat  or  Armenia,  the  family  of  Noah  remained 
for  some  time  in  that  country,  ranging  between  the  Cas- 
pian Sea  on  the  north,  Asia  Minor  on  the  west,  and  the 
Red  Sea  on  the  south.  The  centre  o.'  population  was 
doubtless  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Euphrates,  which  empties 
into  the  Persian  Gulf.  When  God  commanded  them  to 


458        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

disperse,  and  to  replenish  the  earth,  Nimrod,  and  the  de- 
scendants of  Ham,  migrated  northward,  into  what  after- 
ward became  the  Assyrian  and  the  Babylonian  empire. 
Shcrn  and  his  descendants  moved  south,  toward  the  Nile 
and  along  the  Red   Sea  and  the  Mediterranean  ;   while 
Japheth  and  his  descendants  settled  along  the  northern 
slope  of  the  Mediterranean,  in  Greece,  Turkey,  and  the 
mountains  of  Caucasia.     For  many  centuries,  the  human 
family,  or  rather,  the  great  bulk  of  it,  led  a  migratory  and 
roving  life — either  subsisting  by  hunting,  or  by  grazing 
sheep  and  cattle.      As  families  increased,  governments 
were  instituted  ;  and  when,  by  marriages  and  social  rela- 
tions, families  and  tribes  united  for  the  common  protec- 
tion, governors  were  clothed  with  authority  to  regulate 
their  domestic  concerns.     These  little  communities,  by 
the  natural  law  of  increase,  expanded  into  nations,  and 
with  such  expansion  came  the  ambition  to  build  cities, 
and  to  surround  themselves  with  the  more  permanent 
appliances  and  conveniences  of  life.     With  the  increase  of 
population  and  the  growth  of  cities,  the  authority  of  rulers 
extended  itself,  whereupon  new  religions  were  adopted, 
new  principles  inculcated,  and  new  and  varied  avocations 
pursued.      Jealousies  between  tribes  and  nations  were 
aroused ;   wars  were  carried  on,  and,  in  short,  in  a  few 
centuries  from  the  dispersion  of  Noah's  family,  millions  of 
people  were  scattered  over  the  vast  region  of  country  ex- 
tending  from   the   Atlantic    coast   of   Britain   eastward 
through  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa,  to  the  distant  shores 
of  India,  China,  and  Japan.     Nation  after  nation  arose, 
some  distinguished  for  their  wonderful  mechanical  genius, 
as  the  Egyptians ;  some  for  their  commercial  enterprise, 
as  the  Phoenicians,  and  Carthaginians ;    some  for  their 
literature,   poetry,    and   fine   arts,  as   the   Grecians   and 
Romans  ;  and  all,  more  or  less,  for  their  wars,  conquests, 
colonies,  forms  of  government,  science,  philosophy,  archi- 


ANCIENT   INHABITANTS   OP   THE   EARTH.  459 

lecture,  religion,  etc.,  etc.  They  rose  and  fell,  one  after 
the  other,  until  there  is  now  little  left  of  them,  outside  of 
Europe,  but  the  sculptured  remains  of  their  ruined  palaces, 
their  superstitious  idols,  their  works  of  art,  and  the  names 
of  their  great  kings,  generals,  poets,  and  philosophers. 

In  glancing  over  the  history  of  the  ancient  nations 
thus  distributed  over  Africa,  Asia,  and  Europe,  one  fact 
will  strike  the  reader  with  irresistible  force,  viz.,  that  the 
human  species,  four  thousand  years  ago,  possessed  mental 
and  physical  properties  fully  equal,  if  not  superior  in 
many  respects,  to  the  people  of  the  present  age.  All  their 
works  were  on  a  grand  and  magnificent  scale,  and  have 
excited  the  wonder  and  admiration  of  all  succeeding  ages. 
Some  of  the  palaces  and  temples  of  Thebes,  presented  a 
forest  of  lofty  marble  pillars,  stretching  out  in  long 
avenues  and  porticos,  lined  with  innumerable  sphinxes. 
A  single  hall,  in  one  of  these  stupendous  edifices,  was 
supported  by  one  hundred  and  twenty  pillars,  six  fathoms 
round,  of  a  proportionate  height,  and  intermixed  with 
obelisks  which  so  man}'  ages  have  not  been  able  to  de- 
molish. Painting,  too,  had  displayed  all  her  art.  "  The 
colors  themselves,  which  soonest  feel  the  injury  of  time, 
still  remained  amidst  the  ruins  of  this  wonderful  structure, 
and  preserved  much  of  their  original  beauty  and  lustre — 
so  happily  could  the  Egyptians  imprint  a  character  of  im- 
mortality on  all  their  works."*  Every  portion  of  Egypt 
abounded  in  obelisks.  They  were  for  the  most  part  cut 
in  the  quarries  of  Upper  Egypt,  where  some  were  left 
half-finished.  But  the  most  wonderful  circumstance  is, 
that  the  ancient  Egyptians  should  have  had  the  art  and 
contrivance  to  dig  canals,  from  the  very  quarries  to  the 
river  Nile,  by  means  of  which,  during  the  high  inundations 
oi  that  river,  they  floated  the  obelisks  to  different  parts 

*  Rollin,  who  also  quotes  Strabo. 


460        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

of  the  country.  This  was  accomplished  by  rafts  or  air- 
inflated  skins  ;  but  when  we  consider  the  enormous  pro- 
portions and  weight  of  the  obelisks,  thus  cut  out  of  the 
quarries,  the  means  would  seem  utterly  disproportioned 
to  the  task.  Thus,  Sesostris  erected  in  Heliopolis  two 
obelisks  of  extremely  hard  stone,  brought  from  the  quarries 
of  Syene,  each  one  hundred  and  eighty  feet  in  length. 
This,  be  it  understood,  was  a  single  mass  of  rock,  cut  into 
a  quadrangular  shape,  raised  perpendicularly,  and  in- 
scribed with  hieroglyphics  or  mystical  characters.  The 
Emperor  Augustus,  after  he  made  Egypt  a  province  of  the 
Roman  Empire,  caused  these  obelisks  to  be  transported 
to  Rome,  one  of  which  was  broken  into  several  pieces. 
Constantinus  afterward  removed  a  third  one,  even  larger 
than  the  first.  The  pyramids  also  constituted  a  very  re- 
markable feature  among  the  monuments  of  the  ancient 
Egyptians,  and  were  scattered  all  over  the  empire.  Those 
near  Memphis,  however,  were  the  most  considerable. 
The  largest  was  built  on  a  rock,  having  a  square  base, 
cut  on  the  outside  as  so  many  steps,  and  decreasing 
gradually  to  the  summit.  It  was  built  with  stones  of  a 
prodigious  size,  the  least  of  which  were  thirty  feet,  wrought 
with  wonderful  art,  and  covered  with  hieroglyphics.  Acr 
cording  to  several  ancient  authors,  each  side  was  eight  hun- 
dred feet  broad,  and  as  many  high.  The  summit  of  the 
pyramid,  which  to  those  who  stood  below,  seemed  a  point, 
was  a  fine  platform,  composed  of  ten  or  twelve  massive 
stones,  and  each  side  of  that  platform  sixteen  or  eighteen 
feet  long.  It  is  said  that  one  hundred  thousand  men  were 
constantly  employed  about  this  work,  and  were  relieved 
fivery  thr^e  months  by  the  same  number.  Ten  years 
were  spent  in  hewing  out  the  stones,  either  in  Arabia  or 
Ethiopia,  and  in  conveying  them  to  Egypt ;  and  twenty 
years  more  in  building  this  immense  edifice,  the  inside  of 
which  contained  numberless  rooms  and  apartments. 


WORKS   OF   ART   OF   THE   EGYPTIANS.  4G1 

These  pyramids  were  tombs,  and  there  is  still  to  be  seen, 
in  the  middle  of  the  largest,  an  empty  sepulchre,  cut  out 
of  one  entire  stone,  about  three  feet  deep  and  broad,  and 
a  little  above  six  feet  long.  Such  were  the  pyramids, 
which,  by  their  figure,  as  well  as  size,  have  completely 
triumphed  over  the  injuries  of  time  and  the  barbarians. 
Pliny  gives  us  a  just  idea  of  their  object,  when  he  calls 
them  a  foolish  and  useless  oiBntation  of  the  wealth  of 
Egyptian  kings,  and  adds,  that  by  a  just  punishment, 
their  memory  is  buried  in  oblivion — the  historians  them- 
selves not  agreeing  about  the  names  of  those  who  first 
raised  these  vain  monuments.  Diodorus  judiciously 
observed  that  the  industry  of  the  architects  is  no  less 
valuable  and  praiseworthy,  than  the  designs  of  the 
Egyptian  kings  are  contemptible  and  ridiculous.  But 
what  we  should  most  admire  in  these  ancient  monuments 
is,  the  true  and  standing  evidence  they  give  of  the  skill  of 
the  Egyptians  in  astronomy.  M.  de  Chazeller,  when  he 
measured  the  great  pyramid,  found  that  the  four  sides  of 
it  were  turned  exactly  to  the  four  quarters  of  the  world, 
and  consequently  showed  the  true  meridian  of  the  place. 

What  has  been  said  concerning  the  judgment  we  ought 
to  form  of  the  pyramids,  may  also  be  applied  to  the  laby- 
rinth. This  was  not  so  much  one  single  palace,  as  a 
magnificent  pile  composed  of  twelve  palaces,  regularly 
disposed,  which  had  a  communication  with  each  other. 
Fifteen  hundred  rooms,  interspersed  with  terraces,  were 
ranged  round  twelve  principal  halls,  and  discovered  no 
outlet  to  such  as  went  to  see  them.  There  was  the  like 
number  of  buildings  under  ground.  These  subterraneous 
structures  were  designed  for  the  burial  place  of  kings,  and 
also  for  keeping  the  sacred  crocodiles,  which  a  nation  so 
wise  and  powerful  in  other  respects,  worshiped  as 
gods! 

But,  in  the  estimation  of  many,  the  noblest  and  most 


462        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

wonderful  work  of  all  the  kings  of  Egypt,  was  the  lake  of 
Mceris."  Its  exact  dimensions  have  been  disputed ;  but  ac- 
cording to  modern  travelers,  it  was  twenty  thousand  paces, 
or  over  seven  French  leagues  in  circumference.  Some  of 
the  ancient  authors  made  it  more  than  one  hundred  and 
eighty  French  leagues,  but  this  is  evidently  an  exaggera- 
tion. Two  pyramids,  on  each  of  which  was  placed  a 
colossal  statue,  seated  o  A  throne,  raised  their  heads  to 
the  height  of  three  hundred  feet  in  the  midst  of  the  lake, 
while  their  foundations  took  up  the  same  space  under  the 
water.  This  lake  had  a  communication  with  the  Nile  by 
a  great  canal,  and  was  intended  to  store  water  for  the 
supply  of  the  country  during  seasons  of  drought,  or 
when  the  river  failed  in  its  customary  annual  over- 
flows. 

We  have  cited  these  familiar  examples  of  the  works  of 
ancient  art,  merely  to  remind  the  reader  of  the  almost  un- 
limited resources,  power,  and  mechanical  skill  of  the  earlier 
races  of  mankind,  and  to  support  the  proposition  pre- 
viously advanced,  viz. ,  that  in  many  respects  they  far  sur- 
passed any  subsequent  age  or  nation.  But  we  might  cite 
many  other  examples — nations  that  equally  surpassed  the 
moderns  in  science,  literature,  and  the  fine  arts  ;  in  mining, 
manufactures,  and  commerce  ;  or  in  government,  philo- 
sophy, and  statesmanship.  The  present  has  the  benefit 
of  the  discoveries  of  previous  ages.  It  can  detect  the 
follies  of  the  past,  and  improve  upon  the  good  that  has 
descended  from  it.  It  enjoys  the  rich  legacy  bequeathed 
by  its  fathers,  and  nearly  every  thing  that  it  accom- 
plishes, is  but  the  reflex  of  past  ages,  from  whence  our 
modes  of  thought  and  action  were,  in  a  great  measure, 
derived.  They  were  our  predecessors  in  poetry,  music, 
the  drama — in  war,  the  arts,  sciences — in  architecture, 
statuary,  painting — and  although  we  may,  in  some  cases 
have  improved  upon  the  original  models,  according  to  the 


FIRST   SETTLEMENT   OP  AMERICA.  463 

idiosyncrasies  of  particular  nations  and  ages,  yet,  upon 
the  whole,  we  have  never  surpassed  them,  and  probably 
never  will. 

Now,  is  it  likely  that  nations  thus  distinguished — na- 
tions which,  like  the  Phoenicians,  Carthaginians,  and  Gre- 
cians, sent  their  fleets  to  every  sea,  and  planted  colonies  in 
the  most  distant  points,  should,  for  more  than  three  thou- 
sand years,  remain  ignorant  of  the  American  continent  ? 
Or  is  it  to  be  supposed  that,  after  their  downfall,  one  follow- 
ing fast  upon  the  other,  it  was  finally  reserved  for  Spain, 
(which  had  previously  been  but  a  colony  of  Carthaginia, 
from  whose  bowels  she  mined  her  gold,  silver,  copper, 
lead,  and  other  minerals,)  emerging  from  a  long-protracted 
era  of  ignorance,  superstition  and  darkness  ; — that  it  was 
reserved  for  her  alone,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  to  make  the 
discovery  of  America  ?  I  repeat :  Can  any  one,  after  con- 
templating the  extraordinary  resources,  enterprise,  and 
learning  of  the  previous  ages,  suppose  that  America  re- 
mained unknown  -to  the  world  until  the  discovery  of 
Columbus  ?  The  idea  is  preposterous.  The  knowledge 
of  this  continent  may  indeed,  have  died  out  with  the  extin- 
guishment of  the  ancient  Asiatic  and  African  nations 
themselves,  as  it  did  with  the  Icelanders,  and  in  the  dark- 
ness which  enshrouded  J&urope  during  the  middle  ages, 
may  have  been  completely  lost  to  those  people,  if  indeed, 
any  knowledge  of  it  had  previously  existed  among  them  ; 
• — but  it  is  utterly  inconsistent  with  any  estimate  that  we 
can  form  of  the  power,  nautical  enterprise,  and  learning 
of  the  previous  ages,  to  suppose  that  they  should  have 
remained  ignorant  of  it,  when  in  an  after  age,  notoriously 
effeminate  and  destitute  of  means,  the  discovery  should 
still  have  been  made,  upon  geographical  grounds,  supposed 
to  be  original  and  independent,  but  really  far  otherwise. 
Columbus  derived  his  theory  of  the  New  World  from  the 
Icelanders,  colonists  from  Norway,  who  had  previously 
30 


464        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

settled  the  Atlantic  Coast  from  Boston  to  New  York,  as 
early  as  the  tenth  century,  and  it  is  well  known  that, 
when  he  actually  landed  in  South  America,  four  centuries 
after,  he  could  not  persuade  himself  that  it  was  a  new 
continent — every  thing  induced  him  to  regard  it  as  a  por- 
tion of  the  far-off  Indies,  and  hence  the  name  which  por- 
tions of  it  bear  to  this  day  1 

There  are  so  many  things  in  the  history  and  works  of 
the  more  ancient  races  that  we  cannot  comprehend,  and 
so  much  to  challenge  our  admiration  and  wonder,  that  it 
would  be  contrary  to  all  reason  and  analogy  to  presume 
upon  their  geographical  ignorance,  in  the  face  of  monu- 
ments which  our  own  continent  is  now  revealing  of  an 
absolute  identity  between  them  and  our  aborigines.  Such 
a  presumption  would  not  only  be  unreasonable,  but  it 
would  be  the  sheerest  folly  when  we  remember  that,  while 
the  works,  physiological  features,  languages,  and  inscrip- 
tions of  the  aborigines  bear  no  resemblance  whatever  to 
the  nations  of  Modern  Europe,  there  is  in  everything  a 
most  remarkable  similarity  to  the  ancient  inhabitants  of 
the  Mediterranean,  and  of  the  adjacent  countries  around 
the  original  seat  of  the  Noachian  race.  "  The  compara- 
tive study  of  languages,"  says  the  great  and  profound 
Alexander  Yon  Humboldt,  who  maintains  the  unity  of 
races,  "  shows  us  that  races  now  separated  by  vast  tracts 
of  land  are  allied  together,  and  have  migrated  from  one 
common  primitive  seat :  it  indicates  the  course  and  direc- 
tion of  all  migrations,  and,  in  tracing  the  leading  epochs 
of  development,  recognizes,  by  means  of  the  more  or  less 
changed  structure  of  the  language,  in  the  permanence  of 
certain  forms,  or  in  the  more  or  less  advanced  destruction 
of  the  formative  system,  which  race  has  retained  most 
nearly  the  language  common  to  all  who  had  migrated  from 
the  general  seat  of  origin.  The  largest  field  for  such  in- 
vestigations into  the  ancient  condition  of  languages,  and, 


ALTERNATION    OF   ANIMAL   RACES.  465' 

consequently,  into  the  period  when  the  whole  family  of 
mankind  was,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word,  to  be  re- 
garded as  one  living  whole,  presents  itself  in  the  long  chain 
of  Indo- Germanic  languages,  extending  from  the  Ganges 
to  the  Iberian  extremity  of  Europe,  and  from  Sicily  to  the 
North  Cape.  The  same  comparative  study  of  languages 
leads  us  also  to  the  native  country  of  certain  products 
which,  from  the  earliest  ages,  have  constituted  important 
objects  of  trade  and  barter.  The  Sanscrit  names  of 
genuine  Indian  products,  as  those  of  rice,  cotton,  spike- 
nard and  sugar  have,  as  we  find,  passed  into  the  language 
of  the  Greeks,  and  to  a  certain  extent,  even  into  those 
of  Shemitic  origin."* 

But  the  theory  of  the  ancient  colonization  of  America, 
is  not  only  supported  by  the  similarity  existing  between 
the  trans-oceanic  races  and  their  works,  but  is  strikingly 
corroborated  by  the  animal  creation.  Cuvier,  and  other 
distinguished  anatomists,  from  whom  we  have  already 
quoted,  pointed  out  the  fact  that  each  continent  apjioars 
to  have  a  fauna  peculiarly  its  own  ;  and  that  in  -America, 
the  animals  invariably  belonged  to  a  class  very  ancient  in 
the  scale  of  creation.  When  the  "  Spaniards  first  visited 
South  America,  they  did  not  find  a  single  species  of 
quadruped  the  same  as  any  in  Europe,  Asia,  or  Africa— 
the  puma,  jaguar,  tapir,  lama,  sloths,  armadillos,  opossums, 
etc.,  were  to  them  entirely  new  animals."  He  might 
have  added  that  even  the  natives  whom  Columbus  met, 
were  an  entirely  new  race — not  different  in  species,  for 
that  was  impossible ;  but  like  the  animals  themselves, 
new  and  unknown.  And  why  was  this  ?  The  races 
whom  the  Indians  most  resembled,  had  long  before  died 
out ;  and  so  even  the  animals  had  no  longer  any  known 
representatives  in  Asia,  Africa,  or  Europe.  But  on 

*  Iluraholilt,  Cosmos,  vol.  ii.  p.  lit. 


466        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

digging  up  the  earth,  what  do  we  find  ?  First,  the 
ancient  progenitors  of  the  American  aborigines,  and 
then,  one  by  one,  the  ancient  progenitors  of  the  American 
animals  !  It  is  a  singular  and  extraordinary  coincidence, 
that,  while  nearly  every  leading  naturalist  points  out  this 
remarkable  feature  in  the  faunas  of  America,  Australia, 
and  New  Zealand,  not  one  has  the  temerity  to  suggest 
their  common  origin,  as  if  science  should  be  compromised 
if  found  to  add  aught  to  the  simple  facts  of  the  Bible  I  It 
is  not  worth  while  here  to  again  go  into  particulars,  for 
if  I  did,  fifty  pages  of  my  book  would  be  occupied  with 
the  details.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  so  far  have  all  geologists 
carried  this  proposition,  (of  the  faunas  of  America,  Austra- 
lia and  numerous  oceanic  islands  being  of  greater  antiquity 
than  the  existing  faunas  of  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa,)  Jthat 
some  of  them  have  even  assigned  a  similar  antiquity  to 
the  vegetation.  "  It  is  a  circumstance  quite  extraordinary 
and  unexpected,"  says  Prof.  Agassiz,  in  his  work  on  Lake 
Superior,  "  that  the  fossil  plants  of  the  Tertiary  beds  of 
(Eningen  resemble  more  closely  the  trees  and  shrubs  which 
grow  at  present  in  the  eastern  parts  of  North  America, 
than  those  of  any  other  parts  of  the  world  ;  thus  allowing 
us  to  express  correctly  the  difference  between  the  opposite 
coasts  of  Europe  and  America,  by  saying  that  the  present 
eastern  American  flora,  and,  I  may  add,  the  fauna  also, 
have  a  more  ancient  character  than  those  of  Europe." 
The  mastodon,  once  so  numerous  in  America,  had 
previously  flourished  in  Europe  and  Asia,  and  its  bones 
are  there  found  in  strata  older  than  those  which  contain 
them  here.  The  South  American  tapir,  the  hog,  the 
puma,  the  lama,  armadillo,  (in  short,  all  the  animals  now 
existing  here),  had  their  analogues  in  the  Old  World  ;  and 
many  of  the  species  became  extinct  there  about  the  very 
time  that  we  can  suppose  them  to  have  been  introduced 
here.  IL  like  manner,  the  marsupials  of  Australia  are  ~ 


ALTERNATION   OP   ANIMAL  RACES.  467 

longer  found  in  the  old  world,  and  are  represented  in 
America  by  the  opossum  and  pouched  rats  ;  but  oxtinct 
genera  of  these  animals  are  found  all  over  the  eartn,  and 
are  not  confined  to  any  particular  localities,  as  the  living 
species  now  appear  to  be.  As  the  animals  ran  out  in  the 
old  continents,  they  made  their  appearance  in  the  new 
ones ;  and  the  very  same  fact  holds  good  with  the  races 
of  man.  Many  animals,  especially  those  valuable  for  their 
fur,  their  hides,  or  their  flesh,  or  those  obnoxious  to  the 
lords  of  creation,  have  already  become  extinct  during  the 
present  brief  settlement  of  America ;  while  the  Indians 
themselves  are  gradually  disappearing  with  them.  The 
bones  of  the  one  will^mingle  with  those  of  the  other  ;  as 
those  of  their  predecessors  are  now  found  side  by  side 
with  the  Mastodon,  Megatherium,  the  Paleotherium,  etc. 
For  more  than  three  centuries,  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa 
have  been  emptying  their  overflowing  population  on  our 
shores ;  and  the  effects  thus  produced  on  the  physical 
aspect  of  the  continent  need  not  be  pointed  out.  Old 
things  are  eradicated — new  ones  introduced.  The  wild 
animals  give  place  to  the  domestic  ones.  The  aborigines 
fade  away  before  the  white  man,  like  flies  nipped  by 
autumnal  frosts.  Nature  works  slowly  and  mysteriously ; 
but  always  on  the  same  general  plan.  What  we  see 
going  on  now,  has  occurred  before,  and  will  occur  again. 
One  race  of  animals  must  give  way  to  another,  as  one  race 
of  man  is  superseded  by  another.  The  seat  of  ancient  art 
and  population  in  Asia  and  Africa,  has  long  been  little 
else  than  a  barren  waste.  The  time  will  come  when  it 
will  again  attract  a  superior  population,  and  the  senii- 
barbarous  people  now  inhabiting  it  will  die  out,  as  the 
American  Indian  is  trampled  down  beneath  the  advancing 
march  of  civilization  I  The  lion  and  the  tiger  will  give 
way  to  the  sheep  and  the  ox  ;  and  the  school -house  and 
the  church  spire  will  smile  on  plains  now  traversed  by 


4G8        THE  SEVENTH  DAY— THE  SABBATH. 

wandering  caravans,  or  dotted  with  fragile  tents  and  with 
temples  of  heathen  gods. 

Alllhe  smaller  animals,  including  the  deer,  the  horse, 
the  buffalo,  the  tapir,  the  sheep,  the  lama,  and  many 
others,  were  brought  here  by  the  earliest  colonies,  and 
their  hides,  and  wool,  or  fur,  constituted  then,  as  they 
have  since,  a  profitable  article  of  commercial  traffic.  The 
increase  of  population  in  the  old  world  prevented  their 
mature  development  there.  Among  nations  who  could 
go  to  war  with  a  million  soldiers  under  arms,  as  was  re- 
peatedly the  case  with  Assyria,  Babylonia,  Egypt,  Car- 
thaginia,  Persia,  and  Greece,  (that  of  Xerxes,  when  he 
lay  before  Thermopylae,  was  estimated  at  several  millions,) 
it  may  readily  be  surmised  that  the  inferior  animals,  if  not 
absolutely  extinct,  would  soon  become  so  ;  and  hence  the 
policy  of  transplanting  them  to  the  new  world  would  sug- 
gest itself  as  a  scheme  worthy  the  sagacity  and  unlimited 
enterprise  of  those  great  nations.  But,  independent  of 
the  commercial  aspect  of  the  scheme,  the  religion  of  the 
Egyptians,  and  other  nations,  was  such  that  their  people 
would  naturally  take  with  them  animals  which  they  were 
taught  to  regard  with  superstitious  reverence.  The  dog, 
the  cat,  the  oxen,  and  many  others,  were  absolutely  insep- 
arable from  them, — they  were  household  gods.  And  who 
can  doubt  but  that  the  Almighty  suffered  this  abominable 
superstition  to  prevail,  for  the  purpose  of  effecting  some 
ultimate  and  unseen  good  ?  lie  seems  to  have  used  these 
very  idolators  for  the  express  purpose  of  transplanting  his 
creation  to  other  worlds;  while  he  suffered  them  to  rear 
up  their  everlasting  monuments  of  folly,  merely  to  exhibit 
to  succeeding  generations  the  ineffaceable  gloom  and  deso- 
lation that  now  brood  over  them.  In  the  very<  height  of 
their  power  and  glory,  and  at  a  time  when  the  true  God  had 
been  utterly  forgotten,  they  were  yet  unconsciously  car- 
rying out  his  decrees!  They  were  allowed  strength  that 


ALTERNATION   OF   ANIMAL  RACES.  469 

they  might  the  better  work ;  they  were  allowed  indomitable 
enterprise  that  the  whole  world  might  be  subdued ;  they 
were  allowed  exalted  learning  to  show  how  contracted 
was  their  vision,  when,  unable  to  fathom  the  works  of  the 
Creator,  they  bowed  down  to  beasts  and  sculptured  idols. 
All  this,  I  repeat,  was  tolerated  that  ultimate  good  might 
flow  from  it ;  for  every  seeming  evil  in  the  plan  of  creation, 
invariably  carries  with  it  a  compensating  virtue.  Poison 
has  its  antidote ;  affliction  brings  consolations  ;  and  the 
terrors  of  death  itself  vanish  before  the  angels  of  hope, 
which  bear  away  the  undying  soul.* 

I  now  come  to  the  direct  consideration  of  the  seventh 
day  or  Sabbath.  God  rested  the  seventh  day  for  the  pur- 
pose of  showing  that  his  work  was  done.  Had  he  not 
designated  such  a  period  of  rest,  it  would  have  appeared 
that  his  creative  work  was  continuous ;  but  we  know  that 
such  is  not  the  fact.  Changes  occur  on  the  surface  of  the 
earth,  both  in  organic  life  and  in  organic  forms  ;  but  there 
are  no  new  and  special  creations.  All  the  effects  now  pro- 
duced are  the  results  of  law,  not  of  new  creative  acts. 
When,  therefore,  God  finished  his  creation,  its  successive 
stages  were  symbolized  by  the  days  allotted  to  man,  and 

*  We  had  no  idea,  at  the  outset,  of  lingering  so  long  on  this  branch  of 
the  subject.  We  have  many  other  suggestions  which  might  properly  be 
introduced ;  but  the  bulk  of  manuscript  already  accumulated,  admonishes 
me  of  the  necessity  of  leaving  it,  at  least  for  the  present.  Many  of  the 
views  that  I  have  presented  are  new — some  of  them  novel.  I  do  not  know 
what  the  world  may  think  of  them,  if,  indeed,  anybody  shall  even  think 
of  them  at  all.  But  I  indulge  a  hope  that  I,  or  some  one  else,  may  be 
able,  at  some  future  time,  to  set  them  forth  in  a  better  light.  The  trutha 
of  nature  are  like  game — they  must  be  hunted  for;  and  even  when  found 
out,  it  is  not  every  marksman  that  can  "shoot  folly  as  it  flies,  or  catch  the 
manners,  living,  as  they  rise."  If  my  friend,  the  reader,  should  coincide 
with  me,  and  be  amused  and  entertained  by  the  facts  and  positions  I  have 
presented  to  his  consideration,  I  shall  be  well  rewarded  for  all  the  paper, 
Ink,  candles,  and  so  forth,  that  have  been  consumed ! 


470        THE  SEVENTH  BAY — THE  SABBATH. 

he  hallowed  the  seventh,  for  the  purpose  of  saving  him 
from  the  evil  effects  of  continuous  labor.  No  one  could 
understand  the  complicated  and  delicate  "mechanism  of 
man  better  than  the  Creator  himself.  He  knew  every 
artery  and  bone  ;  every  little  treacherous  nerve  and  vessel, 
and  how  easily  they  could  all  be  unstrung,  disorganized, 
and  ruptured.  He  knew  the  delicate  sensations  of  the 
brain— the  inimitable  fibres  of  the  eye — the  drum-like 
caverns  of  the  ear — the  pendulum  vibrations  of  the  heart, 
(like  "muffled  drums,  beating  funeral  marches  to  the 
grave.")  Knowing  man's  constitution  and  physical  or- 
ganization, the  Creator  saw  the  necessity  for  periods  of 
alternate  rest  from  toil ;  and  experience  has  demonstrated 
that  the  seventh  day  is  as  essential  to  his  health,  and  to 
the  maintenance  of  vigor  of  body  and  mind,  as  sleep  and 
regular  periods  for  meals.  And  not  only  is  this  requisite 
for  man  and  all  laboring  animals,  but  it  applies  with 
nearly  equal  propriety  to  machinery,  especially  locomo- 
tives and  steam  engines.  When  these  are  kept  constantly 
employed  for  long  periods,  the  iron  loses  its  polish,  elasti- 
city, and  strength ;  there  is  an  inequality  between  the 
active  working  parts,  and  those  less  occupied — between 
those  exposed  to  the  action  of  heat  and  steam,  and  those 
more  exempt.  To  preserve  such  machines  in  good  run- 
ning order,  they  require  occasional  relaxation,  during 
which  time  their  surfaces  may  be  cleaned,  polished,  and 
lubricated.  But  if  this  be  true  of  inanimate  machines,  it 
has  ten  times  the  force  when  applied  to  animals.  No.  one 
need  be  told  that  a  horse,  driven  consecutively  on  a  long 
journey,  without  Sabbdth-rests,  would  soon  become 
weakened  and  exhausted.  The  animal  requires  fixed 
times  to  recuperate  his  system.  A  bow,  when  it  remains 
bent  for  a  considerable  time,  cannot  relax  its  fibres  so  as 
to  resume  its  originally  straight  form  ; — but  if,  after  use,, 
the  string  be  removed,  it  will  resume  its  natural  form,  and 


NECESSITY   FOR   SABBATH   RESTS.  471 

thus  preserve  all  its  strength  and  elasticity.  After  a  man 
works  during  the  day,  sleep  will  restore  him  in  the  night ; 
but  if  he  continued  on,  without  giving  his  mind  and  body 
an  opportunity  to  recuperate  on  the  seventh  day,  he  would 
soon  degenerate,  and  the  human  family,  in  a  few  genera- 
tions, would  become  a  race  of  enervated,  over-worked 
pigmies — a  race  of  parched,  dried-up  mummies,  devoid  of 
vitality  and  manly  energy  of  body  and  mind.  God  knew 
this,  and  hence  hallowed  the  Sabbath. 

But  while  he  hallowed  the  seventh  day,  he  appointed 
all  the  others  for  labor.  "  Six  days  shalt  thou  work !" — 
not  six  days  shalt  thou  fritter  away  in  idleness,  dissipa- 
tion, and  sin  !  Some  people,  of  late,  have  manifested  a 
great  deal  of  zeal  in  behalf  of  the  Seventh  day,  (or  rather, 
in  behalf  of  the  Christian  Sabbath,  which,  however,  is  all 
the  same,)  but  seem  entirely  to  overlook  the  first  part  of 
the  command.  Many  of  them  would  appear  to  think 
that  they  are  obeying  the  injunction  by  keeping  the  one 
day,  when,  in  fact,  they  are  equally  bound  to  keep  all  of 
them.  The  Creator  never  contemplated  man  as  an  idler. 
He  made  him  for  work  ! — he  put  him  on  the  earth  to  cul- 
tivate, and  embellish,  and  subdue  it. 

And  speaking  of  cultivation  :  The  wisdom  of  the  Al- 
mighty is  demonstrated  in  another  way,  in  connection 
with  this  very  subject.  He  has  not  only  enjoined  a  Sab- 
bath upon  man,  but  has  applied  it  in  a  somewhat  similar 
manner  to  the  very  ground  whereon  we  tread.  The 
twenty-fifth  chapter  of  Leviticus  opens  with  these  re- 
markable words  : 

"And  the  Lord  spake  unto  .Moses,  on  Mount  Sinai,  saying,  Speak  unto 
the  children  of  Israel,  and  say  unto  them,  When  ye  come  into  the  land 
which  I  give  you,  then  shall  the  land  keep  a  Sabbath  unto  the  Lord. 
Six  years  thou  shalt  sow  thy  field,  and  six  years  thou  shalt  prune  thy 
vineyard,  and  gather  in  the  fruit  thereof:  But  in  the  seventh  year  shall 
be  a  Sabbath  of  rest  unto  the  land,  a  Sabbath  for  the  Lord;  thou  shalt 
neither  sow  thy  fic-ld,  nor  prune  thy  vineyard.  That  which  groweth  of 


472        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

its  own  accord  of  thy  harvest  thou  shalt  not  reap,  neither  gather  the 
grapes  of  thy  vine  undressed  j  for  it  is  a  year  of  rest  unto  the  land.  And 
the  Sabbath  of  the  land  shall  be  meat  for  you  ;  for  thee  and  for  thy  ser- 
vant, and  for  thy  maid,  and  for  thy  hired  servant,  and  for  thy  stranger 
that  sojourneth  with  thee.  And  for  thy  cattle,  and  for  the  beasts  that 
are  in  thy  la-nd,  shall  all  the.  increase  thereof  be  meat." 

The  recent  progress  made  in  agricultural  science  has 
established,  in  the  most  overwhelming  manner,  the  wis- 
dom of  this  law ;  which,  like  ten  thousand  others,  tends 
to  elevate  the  Bible  so  high  in  the  philosophy  of  life  and 
nature,  that  nothing  short  of  direct  inspiration  can  account 
for  its  authenticity.  The  science  of  chemistry  was  un- 
known at  the  time  Moses  lived — but  more  particularly 
agricultural  chemistry.  Even  the  art  of  compounding 
medicine,  if  it  extended  beyond  the  admixture  of  the  juices 
of  roots  and  vegetables,  was  not  based  upon  the  fixed 
principles  of  chemistry,  and  had  no  systematic  application 
to  any  of  the  arts.  And  yet  these  instructions  of  Moses 
are  based  upon  true  chemical  principles — principles  which 
man  has  been  more  than  four  thousand  years  in  finding 
out.  His  practical  experience  never  would  have  revealed 
the  cause  of  the  exhaustion  and  impoverishment  of  soils, 
and  the  means  to  be  applied  for  their  restoration,  had  it 
not  been  for  the  demonstrations  of  chemistry ; — chemistry, 
a  modern  science.  Why  does  the  farmer  rotate  his  crops? 
Why  does  he  divide  his  farm  into  seven  or  eight  principal 
fields",  and  then  observe  a  systematic  change  and  alterna- 
tion of  crops  from  one  to  the  other  ?  Because  the  earth 
is  made  up  of  various  mineral  substances,  derived  from 
the  decomposition  of  rocks  and  organic  matter,  which, 
attracting  the  carbon,  oxygen,  hydrogen,  and  nitrogen  of 
the  atmosphere,  unite  in  ever  varying  proportions,  and  as 
they  erect  vegetable  tissues,  supply  to  it  sugar,  gum, 
starch,  and  the  various  acids,  salts,  alkalies,  and  oils.  All 
plants  are  mainly  made  up  of  potassa,  soda,  lime,  mag- 


CHEMICAL  LAW  OF  VEGETATION.          473 

nesia,  and  sesquioxjd  of  iron,  which  are  invariably  com- 
bined in  greater  or  less  proportions  with  carbonic  acid, 
sulphuric  acid,  silicic  acid,  phosphoric  acid,  and  various 
chlorids.  The  chemical  combinations  thus  formed  be- 
tween |,he  elements  of  the  earth  and  of  the  air ;  the  power 
they  exert  of  precipitating  chemical  acids,  and  of  stimu- 
lating vegetable  vitality,  in  all  its  wonderful  forms,  is 
derived  mainly  from  the  soil.  For  if  -the  mineral  ingre- 
dients necessary  to  attract  the  elements  of  the  air,  are 
wanting  in  the  soil,  no  vegetable  acids  can  be  evolved, 
and  consequently  crops  cannot  be  raised.  This  is  es- 
pecially the  case  when  a  succession  of  crops  of  the  same 
kind  are  planted  in  the  same  soil — the  particular  elements 
which  enter  into  such  crops  being  exhausted,  there  is  no 
longer  remaining  sufficient  strength  in  the  mineral  par- 
ticles of  the  soil  to  attract  the  carbon,  oxygen,  and  hydro- 
gen of  the  air,  and  form  vegetable  acids  with  them. 

Wheat  usually  contains  an  average  of  56  parts  of  starch, 
14  of  gluten,  8  of  sugar,  5  of  gum,  2  of  bran,  and  from  10 
to  13  of  water.  The  bran  generally  occupies  about  one- 
fourth  of  the  entire  weight  of  the  grain,  and  is  even  more 
nutritious  (in  gluten)  than  the  white  flour.  When  the 
grain  is  burned,  there  is  left  behind  about  2  per  cent,  of 
ash,  nearly  one-half  of  which  consists  of  phosphoric  acid, 
the  other  constituents  being  potash,  silica,  magnesia,  soda, 
oxyd  of  iron,  lime,  etc.,  etc.  These  mineral  substances 
are  minutely  diffused  throughout  the  whole  seed,  but  the 
bran  contains  the  most.  The  quantity  of  starch  in  corn 
meal  varies  from  70  to  80  per  cent.  ;  in  rye  flour,  from  50 
to  60  ;  in  buckwheat,  about  50 ;  in  peas  and  beans,  42 ; 
and  in  potatoes,  from  13  to  15  (with  the  addition  of  nearly 
70  parts  of  water).  All  the  cereals  are  thus  distinguished 
for  the  production  of  starch  and  gluten  ;  while  in  others 
the  leading  element  is  sugar ;  in  others,  gum,  resin,  and 
mineral  oils ;  in  others,  alkalies,  poisonous  extracts,  color- 


474        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

ing  principles,  etc.,  etc.  Over  two  hundred  distinct  acid 
compounds,  the  products  of  vegetation,  have  been  isolated 
and  described  by  chemists.  They  are  all  composed  (but 
in  ever-varying  degrees  of  combination)  of  carbon,  hydro- 
gen, and  oxygen,  with  the  latter  generally  in  excess. 
They  are  almost  invariably  found  in  combination  with 
the  varied  mineral  bases  of  the  soil,  as  potash,  soda, 
lime,  etc. 

Now,  it  is  plain  -that  as  all  the  cereal  crops  absorb  a 
large  amount  of  starch  and  gluten,  the  mineral  particles  in 
the  soil  which  elaborate  these  substances  would  ultimately 
lose  their  vitality,  and  the  ground  become  impoverished  by 
uninterrupted  succession  of  such  crops.  To  overcome  this 
tendency  to  exhaustion,  all  farmers  find  it  absolutely 
necessary  to  return  to  the  ground  some  of  the  elements 
thus  absorbed  from  it,  and  to  enable  it  anew  to  attract 
moisture  and  heat  by  which  to  maintain  the  fermenting 
and  acid  principle  of  vegetation.  Animal  manures,  bone- 
dust,  lime,  wood-ashes,  straw,  and  decomposed  vegeta- 
tion accomplish  this  office  in  a  great  measure,  not  only  by 
their  acids  dissolving  the  coherent  particles  of  earth  and 
rock,  and  rendering  the  soil  porous  and  open  to  the  ope- 
ration of  the  air  and  moisture,  but  to  enable  it  to  attract 
from  the  air  the  particular  qualities  demanded  for  the 
support  of  the  crop.  The  substances  which  make  up  the 
great  bulk  of  the  structure  of  all  plants — cellulose,  lignine, 
starch,  sugar,  and  gum — contain  oxygen  and  hydrogen  in 
exactly  the  same  proportions  as  they  exist  in  water,  and 
they  may  in  fact  be  regarded  as  water  in  combination 
with  carbon.  Plants^  absorb  through  their  roots  much 
more  water  than  is  applied  to  the  enlargement  of  their 
structure,  and  in  such  cases  a  constant  evaporation  takes 
place  from  their  leaves.  By  this  process  all  the  solid  parts 
of  the  plant  are  assimilated  from  the  sap,  which  is  itself  ren- 
dered liquid  by  the  water.  But  the  carbonic  acid  which 


CHEMICAL  LAW   OF   VEGETABLE   GROWTH.  475 

plants  absorb  is  mainly  received  through  their  leaves — 
all  of  which  are  furnished  with  innumerable  pores  to  effect 
this  object.  "  These  pores  are  found  mainly  upon  the 
under  side  of  the  leaf.  In  the  white  lily,  where  they  are 
unusually  large,  and  are  easily  seen  by  a  simple  micro- 
scope of  moderate  power,  there  are  about  60,000  to  the 
sq-iare  inch  on  the  epidermis  of  the  lower  surface,  and 
only  about  3,000  in  the  same  space  u^on  the  upper  sur- 
face. Direct  sunshine  being  unfavorable  to  their  opera- 
tion, they  are  more  commonly  found  on  the  lower  surface 
of  leaves.  Although  but  two  measures  of  carbonic  acid 
gas  are  contained  in  5,000  of  air,  its  aggregate  supply,  by 
reason  of  the  great  extent  of  the  atmosphere,  is  very  large, 
and  has  been  estimated  to  exceed  seven  tons  for  each  acre 
of  the  earth's  surface.  The  immensely-extended  swr- 
face  presented  by  the  leaves  of  plants  enables  them  to 
withdraw  carbonic  acid  from  the  atmosphere  in  a  very 
rapid  manner.  But  carbonic  acid,  when  the  soil  is  rich 
in  decomposing  vegetable  matter,  is  also  evolved  in  the 
ground,  and  is  fed  to  the  roots  of  the  plants  in  the  form 
of  a  solution.  The  acid  is  decomposed,  and  its  carbon 
constituents  being  retained  by  the  plant,  the  oxygen 
originally  combined  with  it  is  restored  to  the  atmosphere. 
Thus,  plants  will  grow  in  proportion  to  the  power  of  the 
soil  to  supply  such  carbon ;  and  this  is  primarily  depen- 
dent on  the  amount  of  material  furnished  to  it  so  as  to 
enable  it  to  attract,  and  then  to  assimilate,  the  elements 
when  obtained."* 

Now,  the  experience  of  farmers  in  all  ages  has  demon- 
strated that,  notwithstanding  all  the  manures  annually 
returned  to  the  soil,  and  in  addition  to  the  regular  alter- 
nation of  crops,  it  is  yet  absolutely  essential  to  let  one  of 
the  fields  lie  fallow  every  year,  and  thus,  by  a  system  of 

*  Wells'  Chemistry. 


476        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

rotation,  all  of  them  obtain,  in  their  turn,  a  Sabbath  (  frext 
every  seventh  year,  agreeably  to  the  Mosaic  requirement, 
It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  institution  of  the  Sabbath  is 
founded  upon  a  direct  law  of  Nature,  and,  in  the  case  of 
the  ground,  involves  the  nicest  and  most  complex  princi- 
ples of  chemistry — the  whole  phenomena  of  earthy  con- 
stituents, air,  water,  chemical  combinations  and  acids, 
and  the  functions  and  secretions  of  all  plants.  As  these 
things  were  unknown  to  Science  during  the  age  that 
Moses  lived,  it  follows  that,  like  many  other  laws  founded 
on  similar  philosophical  knowledge,  they  must  have  been 
revealed  to  him  by  the  Creator  himself,  who,  as  we  have 
before  remarked,  was  in  closer  intercourse  with  the  early 
races  of  mankind  than  he  has  been  at  any  time  since, 
except  during  the  holy  mission  of  the  Saviour.  If  civil- 
ized man  kept  no  Sabbath  of  rest,  it  is  not  too  much  to 
infer  that  he  would,  in  the  course  of  a  few  generations, 
.relapse  into  a  savage  or  barbarous  condition,  respecting 
neither  the  laws  of  nature  nor  the  governmental  institu- 
tions of  man,  framed  for  the  common  decorum  and  pro- 
tection of  society.  Nearly  all  the  laws  of  Moses,  which,  at 
this  remote  age,  appear  so  anomalous  and  singular,  were 
based  upon  the  peculiar  habits  and  principles  of  mankind  at 
that  early  day,  and  were  doubtless  the  best  that  could  have 
been  devised  to  lead  the  Israelites  from  the  superstitions 
and  worship  of  idols  with  which,  during  their  long  sojourn 
among  the  Egyptians,  they  had  .become  prepossessed. 
This  is  evinced  from  the  fact  that,  on  their  return  from 
that  God-afflicted  land,  during  the  temporary  absence  of 
Moses  on  one  of  his  missions  to  receive  new  instructions 
from  God,  they  compelled  Aaron  to  set  up  a  golden  calf, 
which  they  immediately  fell  down  and  worshiped  in  the 
true  Egyptian  spirit.  This  shows  very  conclusively  the 
necessity  for  the  adoption  of  forms  and  sacrifices,  that 
their  minds  might  be  constantly  directed  to  God,  and  that 


THE  HARMONY  OF  NATURE.  477 

their  whole  study  and  their  worldly  possessions  should, 
as  it  were,  be  devoted  to  the  service  of  the  true  God,  in- 
stead of  the  absurd  and  demoralizing  worship  of  images 
and  animals.  And  the  experience  of  modern  nations  and 
communities  has  proved  the  fact,  that  wherever  the  Sab- 
bath, both  for  man,  beast,  and  the  soil,  has  been  observed 
in  religious  purity,  the  land  and  the  people  have  been 
rendered  prosperous  in  the  highest  degree ;  and  that, 
wherever  it  has  not  been  observed,  the  land  has  sunk  into 
barrenness  and  the  people  relapsed  into  semi-barbarism. 
The  brief  experience  of  our  own  country  has  already  suf- 
ficed to  demonstrate  this  unerring  law. 

God  has  thus  not  only  directed  man  An  the  true  way  to 
domestic  happiness,  health,  and  prosperity,  individual  as 
well  as  national,  as  based  upon  the  cultivation  of  the  earth; 
but  he  has  also  anticipated  the  future  multifarious  wants 
of  the  human  family,  by  providing  underneath  the  plow- 
share, seams  of  fossil  coal,  of  mineral  ores,  and  earthy 
substances  for  building  and  the  useful  arts,  besides  gems 
and  jewels,  and  elevating  them  in  advance,  by  volcanic 
agency,  so  as  to  render  them  conveniently  accessible. 
While  there  sometimes  seems  to  be  a  confusion  and  un- 
necessary complication  in  the  stratification  of  the  earth,  a 
benevolent  design  may  be  thus  observed  in  the  plan — the 
wise  forethought  and  provision  of  a  good  father  for  his 
dependent  and  erring  children.  For,  it  is  hardly  worth 
while  to  suggest,  had  these  varied  mineral  substances 
been  suffered  to  remain  in  tjje  horizontal  position  in 
which  they  were  originally  deposited,  nothing  is  more 
certain  than  that  they  could  not  have  been  available  to 
man,  and  that  the  surface  would  not  have  presented  that 
diversity  of  valley  and  mountain  which  now  distinguishes 
the  greater  portion  of  it,  and  effects  the  most  essential 
benefits  in  the  diversification  of  the  atmosphere.  Where- 
fore, exclaims  Milton,  with  more  than  poetic  inspiration  : 


478       TUE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

'•'Wherefore  hath  Nature  poured  her  bounties  forth 
With  such  a  full  and  unwithdrawing  hand; 
Covering  the  earth  with  odors,  fruits,  and  flocks — 
Thronging  the  seas  with  spawn  innumerable, 
But  all  to  please,  and  sate  the  curious  taste, 
And  give  unbounded  pleasure  unto  man  ?" 

Every  portion  of  the  globe  is  thus  supplied  with  some 
peculiar  mineral,  agricultural,  commercial,  or  industrial 
resource,  and  he  must  be  blind  indeed  that  cannot  see  in 
the  arrangement,  not  only  a  geological  order,  but  a  geogra- 
phical distribution  well  calculated  to  enable  man,  agree- 
ably to  the  divine  command,  to  subdue  and  replenish  the 
earth,  and  to  exercise  his  humane  dominion  over  all  its 
creatures.  The  whole  fraternity  of  man  and  creation  is 
thus  drawn  together  in  a  common  chain  of  union — 

"We  are  but  parts  of  one  stupendous  whole, 
Whose  body  Nature  is,  and  God  the  soul. 
All  Nature  is  but  art,  unknown  to  thee  ; 
All  chance,  direction,  which  thou  can'st  not  see; 
All  discord,  harmony,  not  understood ; 
All  partial  evil,  universal  good." 

But  there  is,  in  the  whole  creation  of  the  earth,  not 
only  a  pre-arranged  order  of  Nature  in  the  distinct  and 
successive  cosmogonal  eras,  as  we  have  attempted  to 
show ;  but  there  is  a  continuous  development,  from  first 
to  last.  Organic  forms  and  structure  invariably  proceed 
according  to  fixed  laws  of  proportion  and  number.  Had 
there,  indeed,  been  no  law  of  progression,  the  work  of 
creation  would  have  been  stationary,  without  power  of 
change  or  of  recuperation.  Without  progression,  the 
work  of  six  eras  might  have  been  confined  to  one — to  a 
day — an  hour — a  minute.  But  it  happens  that  the  same 
principle  of  progression  which  impels  forward  the  human 
family,  also  impels,  though  in  a  modified  degree,  every 
other  species  of  organic  life.  Herein  man  resembles 


THE  HARMONY  OF  NATURE.  479 

his  Maker,  whose  works  continually  attract  him  cmward 
and  upward.  Hence  it  is  that  the  beautiful  in  the  arts  of 
design,  in  sculpture,  architecture,  painting,  mechanics,  and 
the  law  of  mathematics,  is  only  attainable  according  to  the 
preexisting  models  of  Nature.  The  mind  of  man,  in  other 
words,  is  directed  by  the  works  of  God,  and  in  following 
and  fathoming  thosQ  works,  he  merely  imitates  his  Creator, 
and  becomes  God-like  as  he  improves  upon  their  teachings 
and  purposes.  The  elaborately-carved  frieze  or  cornice 
that  we  so  much  admire  in  the  capitals  of  ancient  art,  are 
mere  copies  of  the  sculptured  and  ornate  shells  of  the 
still  more  ancient  Ammonites  and  Trilobites,  who  erected 
their  marble  palaces  in  the  bottoms  of  primitive  seas. 
The  scars  and  ribs  of  the  Sigillaria,  the  oval  canopy  and 
pendant  tassels  of  the  Lepidodenclria,  the  stellar  net- work 
and  rounded  dots  of  the  Stigmaria — all  these,  in  their  in- 
numerable varieties,  form  figures  which  the  printers  of 
calico  and  paper-hangings  may  imitate,  but  not  surpass. 
Even  the  speaking  marbles  of  Phidias  ;  the  eloquence  of 
Demosthenes  ;  the  graceful  figures  and  gorgeous  coloring 
of  Raphael ;  the  poetic  anthems  of  Milton  ;  the  dramatic 
worldlings  of  Shakspeare ;  the  mathematical  demonstra- 
tions of  Newton ;  the  great  laws  of  Copernicus,  Kepler, 
and  Leverrier; — what,  in  fact,  are  all  these  but  reflected 
visions  or  harmonies  of  Nature — reflected  on  minds 
which,  like  the  prints  of  the  sun  upon  the  daguerreotype,- 
were  sufficiently  transparent  to  retain  them.  What  is 
thought  but  the  reflected  or  embodied  idea  which  God  has 
imprinted  on  Nature  ! 

Our  senses  thus  detect  beauty  of  form  and  structure, 
of  curved  line  and  coloring  mixture,  in  all  the  shells  of  the 
sea,  and  in  all  the  trees,  flowers,  and  fruits  of  the  land. 
There  is  beauty  everywhere  ! — nothing  but  beauty  and 
harmony.  The  papered  walls  of  our  houses,  the  figured 
carpets  we  sometimes  fear  to  tread  upon,  the  printed  de- 
31 


480        THE  SEVENTH  DAY— THE  SABBATH. 

laines  and  rustling  silks  so  gracefully  expanded  around 
the  human  form  divine — these  are  only  tolerable  imita- 
tions of  things  and  pictures  which  the  Almighty  sketched 
millions  of  years  ago.  Even  the  delicately- wrought  laces 
of  the  ladies — the  Chantilly  and  Honiton  fabrics  which 
it  affords  husbands  so  much  pleasure  to  buy  at  ten  or  fifty 
dollars  per  yard ;  why,  really,  these  are  little  more  than 
the  gossamer  webs  of  the  spider,  and"  it  would  be  difficult 
to  tell  which  of  them  catches  the  largest  number  of  flutter- 
ing victims  !  St.  Peter's  has  a  laige  dome  ;  but  who  can 
paint  one  like  that  visible  over  our  heads  on  a  starlight 
night,  or  during  the  meridian  of  the  sun,  or  when  he  sinks 
down  beyond  the  western  hills  to  take  a  peep  at  the  in- 
habitants of  the  antipodes  ?  Our  minds  are  God-like  be- 
cause we  can  admire  God's  works.  Sometimes  Nature 
teaches  us  what  we  have  the  effrontery  to  regard  as  orig- 
inal designs  ;  but  experience  always  proves  that  God  has 
preceded  us.  There  is,  in  fact,  no  such  thing  as  origin- 
ality in  man.  Even  sin,  in  which  he  excels,  is  not  original 
with  him  !  In  the  arts  of  government,  in  domestic  thrift, 
industry,  and  order,  the  "  little  busy  bee"  gives  us  signi- 
ficant lessons.  What  nation,  or  statesman,  or  philosopher, 
from  Lycurgus  to  Buchanan,  has  laid  down  a  nicer  scheme 
of  governmental  order  and  decorum  than  that  which  they 
illustrate  in  their  little  pendant  worlds  of  woven  paper. 

"  They  have  a  King,  and  officers  of  sorts, 
Where  some,  like  Magistrates,  correct  at  home  j 
Others,  like  Merchants,  venture  trade  abroad ; 
Others,  like  Soldiers,  armSd  in  their  stings, 
Make  boot  upon  the  summer's  velvet  buds, 
Which  pillage,  they,  with  merry  march,  bring  home 
To  the  tent-royal  of  their  Emperor, 
Who,  busied  in  his  tent,  surveys 
The  singing  Mason,  building  roofs  of  gold; 
The  Civil  Citizens  kneading  up  the  honey  j 
The  poor,  mechanic  Porters  crowding  in 
Their  heavy  burdens  at  his  narrow  gate  j 


THE  HARMONY  OF  NATURE.  481 

The  sad-eyed  Justice,  with  his  surly  hum, 
Delivering  o'er  to  executors  pale, 
The  lazy,  yawning  Drone." 

St.  Pierre  observed,  and  with  truth,  that  the  "  importance  which  we 
assign  to  our  talents,  proceeds  not  from  their  utility,  but  from  our  pride. 
We  should  take  a  material  step  toward  its  humiliation  did  we  consider 
that  the  animals  which  have  no  skill  in  agriculture,  and  know  not  the  use 
of  fire,  attain  to  the  greatest  part  of  the  objects  of  our  arts  and  sciences, 
and  even  surpass  them.  I  will  say  nothing  here  of  those  which  build, 
which  spin,  manufacture  paper,  and  cloth,  and  practice  a  multitude  of 
other  trades,  of  which  we  do  not  so  much  as  know.  The  Torpedo  de- 
fended himself  from  his  enemies  by  means  of  the  electric  shock,  before 
Academies  thought  of  making  experiments  in  electricity ;  and  the  Limpet 
understood  the  power  of  the  pressure  of  the  air,  and  attached  itself  to  the 
rocks  by  forming  the  vacuum  with  its  pyramidal  shell,  long  before  the 
air-pump  was  set  in  motion.  The  Quails  which  annually  take  their  de- 
parture from  Europe,  on  their  way  to  Africa,  have  such  a  perfect  know- 
ledge of  the  autumnal  equinox,  that  the  day  of  their  arrival  in  Malta, 
where  they  rest  for  twenty -four  hours,  is  marked  on  the  almanacs  of  the 
Island,  about  the  22d  of  September,  and  varies  every  year  as  the  equinox 
itself.  The  Swan  and  Wild  Duck  have  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the  lati- 
tude where  they  ought  to  stop,  when  every  year  they  reascend  in  spring 
to  the  extremities  of  the  North,  and  can  find  out,  without  the  help  of 
compass  or  octant,  the  spot  where  the  year  before  they  made  their  nests. 
The  Frigate,  which  flies  from  East  to  West,  between  the  tropics,  over  vast 
oceans  interrupted  by  no  lamd,  and  which  regains  at  night,  at  the  distance 
of  many  hundred  leagues,  the  very  rock,  hardly  emerging  out  of  the  water, 
which  he  left  in  the  morning,  possesses  means  of  ascertaining  his  longi- 
tude hitherto  unknown  to  our  most  ingenious  astronomers."* 

The  wisdom  with  which  Nature  has  settled  the  propor- 
tions and  functions  of  animals  is  not  less  worthy  of  ad- 
miration. On  a  careful  examination,  we  shall  find  no  one 
deficient  in  its  members,  regard  being  had  to  its  manners, 
and  the  situation  in  which  it  is  destined  to  live.  This 
fact  is  singularly  illustrated  in  the  fossil  remains  of  animals 
. — every  formation  having  produced  species  peculiarly 

*  Studies  of  Nature,  from  the  French  of  J.  H.  B.  De  St.  Pierre ;  London, 

1798. 


482        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

adapted  to  the  circumstances  then  existing  for  their  ac- 
commodation— as  the  condition  of  the  climate,  the  degree 
of  warmth,  the  purity  of  the  water,  its  vegetable,  calcar- 
eous, or  sedimentary  qualities,  and  the  differences  in  the 
plants  and  trees,  and  many  other  similar  features — all  of 
which  continually  varied  the  habits,  instincts,  functions> 
and  movements  of  marine  and  terrestrial  animals.  Thus, 
the  large  and  long  bill  of  the  Toucan,  and  his  tongu* 
"  formed  like  a  feather,  were  necessary  to  a  bird  who  hunts 
for  insects,  scattered  about  over  the  humid  sands  of  the 
American  shores.  It  was  needful  that  he  should  be  pro- 
vided at  once  with  a  long  mattock,  wherewith  to  dig, 
with  a  large  spoon  to  collect  his  food,  and  a  tongue 
fringed  with  delicate  nerves,  to  enjoy  the  rich  relish  of  it. 
Long  legs  and  a  long  neck  were  necessary  to  the  Heron, 
to  the  Crane,  to  the  Flamingo,  and  other  birds  which 
have  to  walk  in  marshy  places,  and  to  seek  their  prey 
under  the  water.  Nature  has  also  infinitely  varied  the 
means  of  defense,  as  well  as  of  subsistence.  The  tardiness 
of  the  Sloth  is  no  more  a  paralytic  affection  than  that  of 
the  Turtle  and  the  Snail.  The  cries  which  he  utters  when 
you  go  near  him,  are  not  those  of  pain.  But,  some  being 
destined  to  roam  over  the  earth,  others  to  remain  fixed  on 
a  particular  post,  their  means  of  defense  are  varied  with 
their  manners.  Some  elude  their  enemies  by  flight ; 
others  repel  them  by  hissings,  by  hideous  figures,  by 
poisonous  smells,  or  lamentable  cries.  There  are  some 
which  deceive  the  eye,  such  as  the  Snail,  which  assumes 
the  color  of  the  walls,  or  of  the  bark  of  trees,  to  which  he 
flees  for  refuge  ;  others,  by  a  magic  altogether  incon- 
ceivable, transform  themselves  at  pleasure  into  the  color 
of  surrounding  objects,  as  the  Chameleon. 

"  Oh  !  how  sterile  is  the  imagination  of  man,  compared 
to  the  intelligence  of  Nature  !  Genius  itself, — about  which 
Biieh  a  noise  is  made, — this  creative  genius,  which  our 


MAN  INSTRUCTED  BY  ANIMALS.  483 

wits  fondly  imagine  they  brought  into  the  world  with 
them,  and  have  brought  to  perfection  in  learned  circles, 
or  by  the  assistance  of  books,  is  neither  less  nor  more 
than  the  art  of  observing.  Man  cannot  forsake  the  path 
of  Nature,  even  when  he  is  determined  to  go  wrong ;  we 
are  wise  only  with  her  wisdom,  and  we  play  the  fool  only 
in  proportion  as  we  attempt  to  derange  her  plans."* 

Pope,  inferring  the  instruction  of  man  from  the  instinct 
of  the  lower  animals,  whereby  he  has  improved  the  arts 
of  industry,  exclaims : 

"  See  him  from  Nature  rising  slow  to  Art, 
To  copy  Instinct  then  was  Reason's  part. 
Thus  then  to  man  the  voice  of  Nature  spake — 
"  Go,  from  the  creatures  thy  instructions  take : 
Learn  from  the  birds  what  food  the  thickets  yield  \ 
Learn  from  the  beasts  the  physic  of  the  field ; 
Thy  arts  of  building  from  the  bee  receive ; 
Learn  of  the  mole  to  plow,  the  worm  to  weave; 
Learn  of  the  little  Nautilus  to  sail, 
Spread  the  thin  oar,  and  catch  the  driving  gale. 
Here,  too,  all  forms  of  social  union  find, 
And  hence  let  Reason,  late,  instruct  mankind. 
Here  subterranean  works  and  cities  see ; 
There  towns  aerial  on  the  waving  tree ; 
Learn  each  small  people's  genius,  policies, 
The  ant's  republic  and  the  realm  of  bees. 
How  those  in  common  all  their  wealth  bestow, 
And  anarchy,  without  confusion,  know ; 
And  these  forever,  though  a  monarch  reign, 
Their  separate  cells  and  properties  maintain. 
Mark  what  unvaried  laws  preserve  each  state ; 
Laws  wise  as  Nature,  and  as  fixed  as  fate. 
In  vain  thy  Reason  finer  webs  shall  draw, 
Entangle  justice  in  her  net  of  few, 
And  right,  too  rigid,  harden  into  wrong, 
Still  for  the  strong  too  weak,  the  weak  too  strong. 
Yet  go !  and  thus  o'er  all  the  creatures  sway, 
Thus  let  the  wiser  make  the  rest  obey  j 

*  Studies  of  Nature,  from  the  French  of  J.  H.  B.  De  St.  Pierre ;  Lo&uon, 
1798. 


484        THE  SEVENTH  DAY — THE  SABBATH. 

And  for  those  arts  mere  instinct  could  afford, 
Be  crowned  as  monarchs,  or  as  gods  adored !' ' 


Lessons  of  wisdom,  of  invention,  of  patient  industry, 
and  social  decorum  can  thus  be  learned  from  every  species 
of  created  being,  and  even  from  the  insects  and  half  vege- 
table zoophytes  and  coral  reefs ;  but  more  especially  from 
the  domestic  animals,  many  of  whom  are  doomed  to 
drudge  their  brief  lives  away  in  the  service  of  ungrateful 
and  unappreciating  man.  How  faithfully  the  horse  plows  ; 
how  intelligently  he  draws  the  wagon  or  the  carriage : 
how  noble  is  his  amble  under  the  rein  of  his  rider — shar- 
ing with  him  "all  the  pleasure  and  the  pride  !"  If  his 
mission  on  earth  is  that  of  serving  man,  who  will  say  that 
it  is  not  well  performed  ?  And  what  is  his  reward  ?  Is 
it  to  be  presumed  that  animals  so  elevated  in  the  scale  of 
intelligence  and  usefulness,  shall  have  no  future  rest — no 
Sabbath  from  the  lashes,  and  neglect,  and  hard  tasks  of 
man  ?  Heaven  forbid  I  The  hard  tasks  and  cruelties 
which  a  Christian  people  inflict  on  these  devoted  animals, 
might  at  least  be  compensated  so  far  as  to  concede,  accord- 
ing to  the  spirit  of  our  religion,  that  the  same  benevolence 
which  provides  for  our  future  happiness,  will  not  deal  un- 
kindly with  the  poor  brutes.  But  what  a  contrast  does 
the  treatment  of  these  creatures  in  civilized  countries 
afford  to  that  of  the  Arabs  I  They  never  beat  their 
horses;  they  manage  them  by  means  of  kindness  and 
caresses,  and  render  them  so  docile,  that  there  are  no 
animals  of  the  kind  in  the  world  to  be  compared  with 
them  in  beauty  and  in  goodness.  They  do  not  fix  them 
to  a  stake  in  the  fie*lds,  but  suffer  them  to  pasture  at 
large  around  their  habitation,  to  which  they  come  running 
the  moment  that  they  hear  the  sound  of  the  master's 
voice.  Those  tractable  animals  resort  at  night  to  their 
tents,  and  lie  down  in  the  midst  of  the  children,  without 


THE   ARABIAN   HORSE.  485 

ever  hurting  them  in  the  slightest  degree.  If  the  rider 
happens  to  fall  while  coursing,  his  horse  stands  still  in- 
stantly, and  never  stirs  till  he  has  mounted  again.  These 
animals  are  the  first  coursers  of  the  universe.  .  "  It  is  re- 
lated by  D'Hervieux,  in  his  "  Journey  to  Mount  Lebanon,7' 
that  the  French  consul  at  Said  offered  to  purchase  a  most 
beautiful  mare,  which  comprised  the  whole  stock  of  a  poor 
Arabian  of  the  desert,  with  the  intention  of  sending  her 
to  his  sovereign,  Louis  the  Fourteenth.  The  poor  Arab, 
pressed  by  want,  hesitated  a  long  time,  but  at  length  con- 
sented, on  condition  of  receiving  a  very  considerable  sum, 
and  which  the  king  authorized  him  to  advance.  The 
consul  sent  notice  to  the  Arab,  who  soon  after  made  his 
appearance,  mounted  on  his  magnificent  courser,  and  the 
gold  which  he  had  demanded  was  paid  down  to  him. 
The  Arab,  covered  with  a  miserable  rug,  dismounts,  looks 
at  the  money,  then,  turning  his  eyes  to  the  mare,  he  sighs, 
and  thus  accosts  her :  '  To  whom  am  I  going  to  yield 
thee  up  ?  To  Europeans,  who  will  tie  thee  close,  who 
will  beat  thee,  who  will  render  thee  miserable  !  Return 
with  me,  my  beauty  !  my  darling  I  my  jewel  I  and  rejoice 
the  hearts  of  my  children. '  And  as  he  pronounced  these 
words,  he  sprung  upon  her  back,  and  scampered  off 
toward  the  desert."*  Even  the 

"  Poor  Indian,  whose  untutored  mind 

Sees  God  in  clouds,  or  hears  him  in  the  wind, — 
Yet  thinks,  admitted  to  that  equal  sky, 
His  faithful  dog  will  bear  him  company  1" 

But  while  lessons  of  profit  and  benevolence  may  often 
be  learned  from  the  various  species  of  animal  life,  a 
scrutiny  of  the  habits  and  instincts  of  others,  also  reveals 
much  to  deplore  and  condemn.  For,  like  vain,  tyrannical 

*  St.  Pierre,  Studies  of  Nature, 


486        THE  SEVENTH  DAY— THE  SABBATH. 

man,  they  too  have  their  assassins,  their  robbtrs,  and 
their  imperious  masters ; — their  Shylocks,  and  Peter 
Funks,  and  Mawworms,  as  well  as  their  ambitious  Caesars 
and  Napoleons  !  It  is  perhaps  a  sad  reflection  ;  but  we 
know  very  well  that  there  are  villains  lying  in  their  native 
jungles,  watching  their  inoffensive  prey  with  glaring  eyes 
and  blood-thirsty  jaws.  There  are  villains  soaring  in  the 
air,  ready  to  pounce,  with  the  stealthy  cunning  of  Rey- 
nard, upon  the  bleating  fold  or  the  unsuspecting  poultry. 
There  are  villains  rioting  in  their  sculptured  and  painted 
shells — dissipating  in  drunken  frolics,  or  stalking  forth 
with  drawn  swords,  or  keen,-edged  dagger,  far  down  in 
the  "dark  unfathomed  caves  of  ocean."  The  powerful 
everywhere  persecute,  pillage,  and  prey  upon  the  weak. 
Whole  communities  of  human  fish,  human  fowl,  and 
human  quadrupeds,  wage  eternal,  bloody,  and  exterminat- 
ing wars  upon  each  other  ! 

Now,  as  the  mind  of  man  may  properly  be  regarded  as 
the  combined  and  concentrated  intelligences  of  all  the 
different  animal  species,  crowned  with  God-like  Reason, 
his  observation  alone  should  lead  him  to  just  discrimina- 
tions— teaching  him  what  to  avoid  and  what  to  follow — 
what  to  do,  and  what  to  leave  undone.  God  has  sur- 
rounded him,  on  every  hand,  with  admonitions  and 
guides ;  and  has  given  him  such  intellectual  powers  as, 
justly  exercised,  not  only  enable  him  to  maintain  his 
dominion  over  all  the  animals,  but  to  approach  nearer  and 
nearer  to  the  character  of  angels. 

"  These  are  t-hy  glorious  works,  Parent  of  good, 
Almighty,  thine  this  universal  frame, 
Thus  wondrous  fair ;  thyself  how  wondrous  then  ! 
Unspeakable,  who  sitt'st  above  these  heavens, 
To  us  invisible,  or  dimly  seen 
In  these  thy  lowest  works ;  yet  these  declare 
Thy  goodness  beyond  thought,  and  power  divine. 


CONCLUSION  481 

Speak  ye  who  best  can  tell,  ye  sons  of  light, 

Angels,  for  ye  behold  him,  and  with  songs 

And  choral  symphonies,  day  without  night, 

Circle  his  throne  rejoicing;  ye  in  heaven, 

On  earth  join  all  ye  creatures  to  extol 

Him  first,  him  last,  him  midst,  and  without  end!* 


ALPHABETICAL   INDEX. 


(For  a  Breviary  of  the  Argument  of  the  several  days,  see  i>age 


Adam  and  Eve,  marriage  of,  355. 

Adam  and  Eve,  fall  and  punishment  of, 
367. 

Adam,  sons  and  daughters  of,  372. 

Agassiz,  remarks  of,  259,  316. 

African,  Ethiopian  or  Negro  race,  352. 

Air,  weight  of,  200. 

Aatelope,  311— Apes,  347— Ants,  233. 

Animals,  law  of  succession,  or  alterna- 
tion of  species,  465. 

Animals,  number  of  species  now  living, 
378. 

Animals,  how  arranged  in  Noah's  Ark, 
383. 

Animals  inhabiting  vegetable  juices,  420. 

Animals,  relations  of  the  living  to  ex- 
tinct species  considered,  428. 

Animals,  extinct  species  of  South  Amer- 
ica, 434. 

Animals,  fallacious  assumptions  of  geol- 
ogists in  reference  to,  422. 

Animal  remains,  absence  of  in  the  coal 
measures,  108. 

Animals,  classification  of,  Zoologists,  209. 

Animal  life  introduced  after  vegetable 
life,  242. 

Animals  of  the  New  Red  Sandstone  era, 
243. 

Animal  life  first  appearing  in  the  seas  on 
the  fifth  day,  205. 

Animals  in  Noah's  Ark  —  were  they 
young  or  old  ?  381. 

America,  discovery  of  in  the  ninth,  cen- 
tury by  the  Northmen,  476. 

America,  colonies  planted  in  Massachu- 
setts and  New  York  by  the  Icelanders, 
447. 

Ancient  inhabitants  of  America,  448. 

Ancient  modes  of  writing — the  cursive 
and  the  cuneiform,  452. 

Animated  Nature,  birth  of,  44. 

Ancient  vegetation,  transmission  of  the 
seeds  of,  117. 

Alleghany  mountains,  origiu  of  the,  67, 
174. 

Animalcules  inherent  in  water,  213. 

America  geologically  the  old  world,  65. 

Anthracite  coal  basins  described,  130. 

Anthracite  derived  from  bituminous 
coal,  theories  proposed,  161. 

Ante-mundane  phenomena,  impossibil- 
ity of  man  to  explore,  15. 


Ark  of  Noah,  how  constructed,  374,  380, 
383. 

Ark  of  Noah,  compared  with  the  Great 
Eastern,  375. 

Ark  of  Noah,  proofs  that  it  was  filled 
with  young,  and  not  adult  animals, 
381. 

Asphalt  of  New  Brunswick,  139. 

Aqueous  origin  of  the  earth,  theory  of, 
42. 

Attraction  of  the  sun,  law  of,  184. 

Artesian  wells,  390. 

Articulate  division  of  the  animal  king- 
dom, 228. 

Art,  works  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  con- 
sidered, 461. 

Arabs,  their  treatment  and  love  of 
horses,  485. 

Astronomy,  theories,  speculations,  dis- 
coveries, and  laws  of  Hipparchus, 
Ptolemy,  Copernicus,  Brahe,  Kepler, 
Galileo,  Newton,  Herschell,  Leverrier, 
etc.,  176. 

Astronomical  observations  and  calcula- 
tions, value  of,  28. 

Astronomy,  progress  of  discovery  in  the 
Seventeenth  century,  remarks  of  Baron 
Humboldt,  187. 

Asiatic  derivation  of  the  ancient  or  orig- 
inal inhabitants  of  America,  451. 

Athens  founded  by  Cecrops  of  Egypt,  454. 

Asphalt,  106— Amber,  origin  of,  158. 

Atmosphere  of  the  coal  period,  172,  175, 
193,  196. 

Atmosphere,  extraordinary  effects  pro- 
duced by  the,  190. 

Atmosphere,  wonders  of  the,  196. 

Atmosphere  and  the  ocean,  currents  and 
climates  of  the,  188. 

Atmosphere,  power  of  the,  compared 
with  the  steam-engine,  190. 

Avalanches,  effects  of,  495. 

Bald  Eagle,  Dr.  Franklin's  opinion  of 

the,  340. 

Basis,  the,  of  Christianity,  369. 
Behring's  Straits,  former  union  of  the 

two  continents  at,  451. 
Breccia  or  Mosaic  marble,  241. 
Botanical  classification,  systems  of  Gess- 

ner,    Jussieu,    Tournefort,    Linnaeus, 

etc.,  78. 


(489) 


490 


ALPHABETICAL   INDEX. 


Bears,  Buffaloes,  Bisons,  Beavers,  etc., 
313. 

Bone-cells  of  different  animals,  272. 

Bible,  truths  of  the,  manifest  with,  in- 
creased knowledge  of  natural  law,  22, 
202,  273. 

Bible,  gratuitous  apologies  for  the,  re- 
buked, 305. 

Bible  *versus  Geology,  testimony  of  the 
witnesses  in  this  case,  251. 

Boulders,  erratic,  how  distributed,  394. 

Bituminous  coal,  how  converted  into 
anthracite,  160. 

Bituminous  shale  in  Wisconsin,  139. 

Brown  coal  or  lignite,  nature  and  origin 
of,  158. 

Bird  tracks  in  New  Red  Sandstone,  268. 

Bird  tracks  classified  by  Prof.  Hitch- 
cock, 270. 

Braudy  from  coal  oil,  144. 

Byron,  Lord,  epitaph  on  his  dog  Boat- 
swain, 334. 

Coal  basins,  origin  of,  64. 

Coal  basins,  extent  and  geographical 
distributions  of,  254. 

Coal,  fossil  vegetation  of  the,  described, 
80. 

Coal  oil  of  Kentucky,  142. 

Coal  oil  whiskey,  144. 

Coal  oil  for  fuel  in  Ocean  steamers,  145. 

Coal  oil,  speculations  in,  145. 

Coal  oil,  geographical  extent  of,  146,  147. 

Coal  oil  strata,  description  of,  147. 

Coal  oil,  how  formed,  147-50. 

Coal  oil  vegetation,  149,  150,  151. 

Coal  oil,  production  of,  152. 

Coal  oil,  commercial  value  of,  152. 

Coal  oil  of  the  Alleghanies,  153. 

Coal,  process  of  distillation  from  the 
ancient  forests,  124,  280. 

Coal  measures,  alternation  of  strata,  126. 

Coal,  identity  of  origin  of  various  min- 
eral combustibles,  132. 

Coal,  chemical  changes  of,  154. 

Coal  period,  climate  of  the,  172, 175, 196, 
206,  251. 

Coal  basins  of  Texas,  Illinois,  Missouri, 
Virginia,  Pennsylvania,  Rhod«  Island, 
Nova  Scotia,  etc.,  68. 

Coral  animals,  mechanical  operations 
of,  212. 

Calorific  sublimation  of  the  ancient 
rocks,  42. 

Caves,  the  Mammoth  of  Kentucky,  and 
others,  69. 

Coniferous  trees,  extinct  and  living,  110. 

Creation,  original  seat  of,  414. 

Creative  plan  or  design  manifest  in  Na- 
ture, 35. 

Creative  tableaux  revealed  to  Moses  as 
described  in  his  Cosmogony,  38. 

Cambrian  system  of  rocks,  character 
and  distribution  of,  60. 

Calendar  of  solar  time,  origin  of,  18. 

Conglomerate  and  sandstone  rocks,  ori- 
gin of,  63. 


Copernicus  not  intimidated  by  priestly 
persecution,  181. 

Church,  false  views  of  Cosmogony  for- 
merly held  by  the,  43,  167,  202. 

Cohesion  of  atoms,  36. 

Cubit  measure  of  Scripture,  376. 

Cuvier,  Baron,  on  the  animals  of  South 
America,  427. 

Crops  of  the  farmer,  necessity  for  their 
alternation,  472. 

Crystalline  rocks  the  basis  of  the  globe, 
46. 

Currents  of  the  atmosphere,  188. 

Cosmogonal  eras,  days,  or  circles  of 
time,  17,  24,  194,  206. 

Church,  its  errors  external,  not  internal, 
22. 

Cretaceous  and  chalk  strata,  their  char- 
acter and  distribution,  284. 

Civet,  342— Camel,  313— Cattle,  domestic 
and  wild,  312. 

Christ,  his  divinity,  doctrines,  acts,  tri- 
umph over  sin,  eic.,  369. 

Christian  doubters  rebuked,  373. 

Continents,  submergence  of,  explained, 
408. 

Chiriqui,  golden  anaglyphs  of,  441. 

Cypress  trees,  114. 

Day,  meaning  of  the  word  as  used  by 
Moses,  17,  20,  194,  206. 

Devonian  system  of  rocks,  53. 

Devonian  lakes  and  rivers,  70,  122. 

Distribution  of  coal  beds,  72, 167. 

Dry  land,  emergence  of  from  the  primi- 
tive seas,  73. 

Deposition  of  coal  seams,  theories  of 
geologists,  and  a  new  one  proposed, 
93,  105,  125,  128. 

Distillation  of  tar,  pitch,  turpentine, 
oils,  etc.,  119,  121. 

Drop  of  water,  animals  inhabiting  a,  214. 

Discovery  of  a  Saurian  What-is-it  t  256. 

Dinotherium,  309— Dromedary,  293— 
Deer,  311. 

Earth,  origin  of  the,  13,  40. 

Earth,  antiquity  of  the,  proved,  16,  21,  25. 

Earth,  original  nebulosity  and  fluidity 

of  the,  36,  41. 

Earth,  rotundity  of  the,  43. 
Earth,  supposed  to  be  an   animal  by 

Kepler,  43. 
Earth,  surface  of  the,   a  vast  tar  pit 

during  the  coal  period,  124. 
Elks,  319— Elephants,  318. 
Evening  or  night,  symbolically  used  by 

Moses,  18. 
European,  American,  and  all  other  pine 

trees,  111. 

Ehrenberg,  Prof.,  microscopic  investiga- 
tions of,  213. 
Echinodermatian  animals  described,  216, 

306. 

Error  unlocking  the  door  for  Truth,  180. 
Egyptians,   their   probable    knowledge 

and  colonization  of  America,  462. 


ALPHABETICAL   INDEX. 


491 


Egyptians,  their    religious    veneration 

for  auimals,  405. 
Egyptian  superstitions,  mythology  and 

euterprise  furnish  a  key  by  which  to 
.  account  for  the  distribution  of  Asiatic 

auimals  in  America,  444. 
Ethiopian  or  Negro  race,  352. 
Eden,  garden  of,  355,  363. 
Eve,  seduced  by  sin,  364. 

First  day  of  Creation  described  by  Moses, 

13. 

Firmament,  origin  of  the,  43. 
Foetus  of  life  in  the  metaniorphic  era,  53, 

63. 

Fossil  vegetation,  character  of,  71. 
Fossil  plants,  systems  of  classification, 

78. 

Fossils,  what  do  they  teach  ?  91. 
Fossil  trees  in  coal  veins,  96,  98, 104, 107, 

128. 
Fossils,  how  accumulated  over  the  coal 

veins,  126. 
Fossil  remains  of  coral,  molluscau,  and 

other  marine  animals,  212. 
Fossil  Kadiata  and   Mollusca,  table  of 

species  of  the,  in  each  geological  for- 
mation, 214. 
Fossils  of  the  chalk  and  cretaceous  strata, 

250. 
Fruits  and  fruit    trees    absent    in    the 

ancient  strata,  108. 
Forests  of  the  coal  period,  density  and 

prolificacy  of  growth,  123. 
Fire-damp  explosions  in  mines,  166. 
Fourth  day  of  Creation   described    by 

Moses,  161— Fifth  day,  209. 
Fogs  and  vapors  of  the  ancient  climate, 

171. 

Foramenifera,  works  of  the,  215. 
Footprints  of  extinct  animals,  243. 
Fowls  of  the  air  introduced  on  the  fifth 

day,  209. 

Fishes  of  the  Tertiary,  and  their  classifi- 
cation, 296— the  Gauoid,  Cycloid,  Pla- 

coid,  and  Ctenoid  orders,  299. 
Flood  of  Noah,  how  produced,  and  its 

universality  proved,  372. 
Fountains  of  the  great  deep,  how  broken 

up,  389. 

God's  spirit  moving  the  nascent  seas,  39. 

Granite  rocks,  group  of  the,  42. 

Granite,  geographical  distribution  over 
the  earth,  47. 

.Geological  classification  of  rocks,  (and 
nomenclature,)  51. 

Geological  survey  of  Pennsylvania, 
scientific  trash,  54,  259. 

Geological  agencies  of  the  coal  period,  68. 

Geological  formations  or  eras  have  dis- 
tinct orders  of  vegetation  —  a  new- 
theory,  116. 

Geological  writers,  errors  of,  and  how 
spread  abroad,  163. 

Geographical  knowledge  and  commer- 
cial enterprise  of  the  ancient  races  of 
man,  400. 


Galileo,  astronomical  laws,  and  discov- 
eries of,  182,  184. 

Gravitation,  law  of,  discovered  by  New- 
ton, 184. 

Gulf  stream,  remarkable  features  of, 
described,  189. 

Grecian  cosmogony  contrasted  with  that 
of  Moses,  43. 

Gulf  of  the  (Devonian)  Atlantic,  formerly- 
located  in  Nebraska,  Kansas,  Missouri, 
etc.,  70. 

Gasteropoda,  animals  of  the  family  of, 
219.  % 

Glyptodon,  the,  described,  321. 

Garden  of  Eden,  description  of  the,  855, 
363. 

Giants  of  the  antediluvian  period,  376. 

Glaciers,  mountain  and  polar,  391,  396. 

Gospel,  ministers  of  the,  358. 

Geological  pretenders,  412. 

Generation  of  animalcules  and  insect*, 
421. 

History  of  the  earth  written  in  its  fos- 
sils, 93. 

Hipparchus,  astronomical  theories  of, 
177. 

Humboldt,  Baron  von,  remarks  of,  ou 
various  topics,  179,  188,  448. 

Humboldt  on  the  unity  of  the  human 
species,  464. 

Humboldt  glacier,  described  by  Kane, 
398. 

Horse,  the  family  of,  319. 

Halley's  comet,  28. 

Hitchcock,  Professor,  on  bird  tracks,  255. 

Herschell,  Sir  John,  telescopic  observa- 
tions of,  29. 

Infidelity,  efforts  to  ally  itself  with  the 
natural  sciences,  23. 

Important  errors  corrected  as  to  the 
origin  and  phenomena  of  coal,  104. 

Infusorial  animals  described,  213. 

Insects,  living  and  fossil,  229. 

Intermediate  planetary  distance,  law  of, 
33. 

Ichthyosaurus,  264 — Iguanodon,  281— 
Ichneumon,  243. 

Insects,  Cuvier's  twelve  orders  of,  240. 

Indian,  the  North  American,  race  of,  de- 
scribed, 374. 

Immaculate  Conception,  theory  and  ob- 
ject of,  369. 

Icebergs,  geological  influences  of,  393. 

Insects,  how  provided  for  in  Noah's  Ark, 
419,  434. 

Insect  fecundation,  extraordinary  pecu- 
liarities of,  421. 

Indians  of  Central  America,  whence  de- 
rived, 441. 

Jefl'erson,  Thomas,  opinions  of,  4:56. 
Juniper,  and  other  allied  trees,  115. 

Known  and  the  unknown,  35. 
Kane,  Dr.,  explorations  of  the  Arctic  re- 
gions, 395. 


492 


ALPHABETICAL   INDEX. 


Key  to  unlock  tbe  mysteries  of  American 
antiquities,  455. 

Kepler,  astronomical  laws  aud  discov- 
eries of,  179. 

Knowledge  of  the  universe  expanding, 
182. 

Kangaroo,  the,  307. 

King,  Dr.,  discovery  of  supposed  foot- 
prints in  the  coal  measures  of  Penn- 
sylvania, 245. 

Light,  diffusion  of,  in  space,  27,  34. 
Light,  inherent  in  nebulous  bodies  or 


aggregations,  39. 
and,  (" 


Laud,  dry,  emergence  of  the,  from  the 
nascent  waters,  49. 

Land  or  air-breathing  animals,  their  ex- 
istence previous  to  the  fifth  day  de- 
nied, 244. 

Lake  Superior,  iron  and  copper  of,  57. 

Land  surface  of  the  Devonian  era,  65. 

Lepidodendrda,  fossils  of,  83. 

Lesquereux,  Mr.,  remarks  of,  89. 

Larch,  the,  and  other  similar  trees,  103. 

Lignite  or  brown  coal,  how  formed,  158. 

Light  of  the  sun,  effects  of  on  the  earth, 
air,  and  sea,  188. 

Limestone,  Magnesian,  241. 

Leverrier,  discovery  of  the  planet  Nep- 
tune, 29. 

Lakes — descriptions  of  Superior,  Huron, 
Michigan,  St.  Clair,  Erie,  Ontario,  etc., 
69,  122,  132. 

Law  of  planetary  movement,  180. 

Law  of  universal  gravitation  described, 
185. 

Lyell,  Sir  Charles,  remarks  on  foot- 
prints, rain-drops,  sun-cracks,  ripples, 
etc.,  245,  250,  271,  277. 

Lyell,  Sir  Charles,  on  the  submergence 
of  continents,  408. 

Lyell,  Sir  Charles,  on  the  extinct  ani- 
mals of  South  America,  etc.,  434. 

Lee,  Isaac,  description  of  supposed  ani- 
mal foot-prints  in  the  sandstone  of 
Mount  Carbon,  246. 

Lee,  Isaac,  answer  to  the  foregoing,  252. 

Limestone,  origin  of  beds  of,  283. 

Lubricating  oil,  144. 

Man,  the  last  effort  of  the  Creator,  354. 

Man  receiving  lessons  from  the  inferior 
animals,  480. 

Man,  duty  of,  to  investigate  Nature,  16. 

Man,  first  appearance  on  the  stage,  344. 

Man,  different  groups  of,  352. 

Man,  his  relation  to  the  Creator,  394. 

Man,  ancient  and  modern  races  com- 
pared, 459. 

Man,  animals  and  machinery,  necessity 
of  alternate  Sabbaths  of  rest,  470. 

Man's  miud,  wherein  it  becomes  God- 
like, 479. 

Man  and  animals,  tribes  and  nations, 
alternating  with  each  other,  465. 

Man,  the  servant  of  God,  16,  354. 

Mongolian  race,  the,  353. 

Moraines,  how  formed,  394. 


Mountains,  elevations  of,  explained,  410. 
Mastodon,      Megatherium,     Glyptodon, 

etc.,  antiquity  of,  436,  467. 
Mounds  of 'the  West  described,  438. 
Moeris,  lake  of,  in  Ancient  Egypt,  462. 
Monkeys,  family  of,  349. 
Milky  Way,  grandeur  and  extent  of  the, 

28. 

Morphology,  or  law  of  forms,  32. 
Milton's  First  Day,  40— Second  day,  49 

—Third  Day,  158— Fourth  Day,  207— 

Fifth  Day,  254— Sixth  day,  356. 
Moses  in  advance  of  scientific  discovery, 

45,  199. 

Metamorphic  rocks,  49,  56,  71,  239. 
Miller,  Hugh,   -writings  aud  erroneous 

theories  of,  63,  301,  406,  413,  417,  424, 

427. 
Metamorphic  coal  of  Ehode  Island  and 

Scandinavia,  76. 

Microscopic  examinations  of  coal,  164. 
Mountains,  upheaval  of  on  fourth  day, 

effects  produced  on  the  climate,  173, 

175. 

Mary,  the  mother  of  Christ,  369. 
Moses  and  the  old  system  of  astronomy, 

177. 
Maury,  Lieut.,  on  the  geography  of  the 

sea,  189. 
Microscope,  revelations  and  wonders  of 

the,  213. 

Molluscan  animals  described,  217. 
Molluscan  fossils,  number  of  species  in 

each  geological  formation,  223. 
Mollusca,  number  of  surviving  species, 

224. 
Mosaic  days  or  eras,  correspondence  with 

geological  formations,  24. 
Mosaic  ideal  tableaux  consistent  with 

physical  law,  38. 
Miracles  of  Nature,  418. 
Mississippi  river,  floods  and  peculiarities 

of  the,  129. 
Marine    animals    described,  fossil    and 

living,  209. 
Mutual    Admiration    Society,    how    it 

works,  270. 

Mammalian    division    of     animals   de- 
scribed, 306. 
Microlestes,  fossil  remains  of,  244. 

Noah's  Ark,  was  it  occupied  with  young 

or  old  animals  ?  381. 
Nature,  teachings  of,  23. 
Nebular  hypothesis  of   the    origin    of 

worlds,  30. 

Nebular  theory  indicated  by  Moses,  38. 
Niagara  Falls,  geological  description  of, 

60. 
Niagara  Falls,  discovery,  retrogression, 

and  antiquity  of,  61. 
Norfolk  Island,  and  other  pines,  115. 
Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  discoveries  of,  184. 
New  red  sandstone  described,  241. 
New  red  sandstone,  animals  of  the,  243. 
Neptune,  discovery  of  by  Leverrier,  29. 
Nature,  mysteries  of,  418. 
Noah's  Ark,  description  of,  381. 


ALPHABETICAL   INDEX. 


493 


Noah's  Ark  as  compared  with  the  Great 

Eastern,  380. 
Northmen,  their  discovery  of  America 

before  Columbus,  447. 
Noah,  dispersion  of  his  family  after  the 

flood,  4.H. 

Nature,  study  of,  by  St.  Pierre,  481. 
Nature,  harmony  of,  476. 
Nations,  origin  of,  458. 

Oracles    and  Seers,  their   influence    In 

Greece,  38. 
Organic  life,  beginning  of,  on  the  earth, 

61. 

Ocean,  wonders  of  the,  196. 
Ocean,  saltness  of  the,  416,  192. 
Ocean  navigation,  value  of  astronomy 

to,  29. 

Old  red  sandstone  described,  55. 
Ocean,  rivers,  currents,  and  climates  of 

tLe,  188. 

Ocean  currents,  how  produced,  191. 
Oil  springs  of  Trinidad,  133. 
Oil  springs  of  Cuba,  134. 
Oil  springs  in  Venezuela,  136. 
Oil  springs  in  New  Grenada,  136. 
Oil  springs  in  Mexico,  137. 
Oil  lake  in  Texas,  137. 
Oil  springs  in  Kansas,  139. 
Oil  of  Pennsylvania,  140. 
Oil  springs  of  Virginia,  141. 
Oolitic  rocks,  description  of  the.  278. 
Ox  or  cattle,  312— Ounce,   329— Ouran- 

outang,  324— Otter,  345. 
Ouran-outang,  supposed  resemblance  to 

man  disproved,  346. 
Origin  of  worlds,  30. 

Progressive  creation,  but  not  develop- 
ment, 25. 

Planets,  distance  from  the  sun,  26. 

Planets,  revolutions  of  the,  32. 

Planete,  density  of  the,  33. 

Plutonic  or  igneous  rocks,  origin  of  the, 
42. 

Plutonic  rocks,  family  of,  described,  46. 

Paleozoic  formation,  53,  56. 

Pilot  kuob  iron,  origin  of,  58. 

Primitive  rocks  of  the  Eastern  States,  77. 

Peat-bog  theory  of  the  deposition  of  coal, 
93. 

Pine  trees.  109— Pitch  pine,  112,  and 
various  other  pines. 

Pitch  lake  of  Trinidad,  133. 

Paleozoic  formation,  vegetable  character 
of,  166. 

Ptolemy,  astronomical  theories  of,  177. 

Paul  explaining  revelation,  200,  201. 

Poetry  of  the  Bible,  203,  204,  205. 

Polyparia,  description  of,  212. 

Promulgators  of  the  Divine  Word,  har- 
mony among  the,  20. 

Planets  move  in  one  direction  only,  31. 

Pitch,  rosin,  oil,  and  tar,  intimate  rela- 
tion to  coal,  133. 

Pleiades,  mysteries  of  the,  203. 

Professional  jealousy,  a  case  in  point, 
259. 


Pickwick  Controversy,  the,  261. 

Plesiosaurus,  267— Pterodactyle,  267. 

Progressive  development  disproved,  273, 
298,  301. 

Pelasgian  inhabitants  of  th»  Mediterra- 
nean, character  of,  453. 

Petroleum  in  Oregon,  138. 

Pyramids  of  Egypt  and  of  Central  Amer- 
ica, 460. 

Pelasgic-Egyptians,  did  they  plant  colo- 
nies in  America  ?  462. 

Religion  and  Science,  want  of  harmony 

between,  22,  24,  25. 
Eaiu-drops,  sun-cracks,  etc.,  ill  ancient 

rocks,  disproved,  71,  245,  248,  2*0. 
Kadiata  division  of  animals  described, 

209. 
Radiata,  fossil,  exhibiting    numlwr  of 

species  in  each  formation,  223. 
Reptiles,  remains  of,  243,  244. 
Rocks,  how  polished  and  groove**  by 

icebergs,  394, 

Rocky  Mountains,  the,  65. 
Rhode  Island  coal  basin,  extraordinary 

geological  features  of,  74. 
Radiated  heat  of  the  earth  during  the 

coal  period,  124. 
Rubbish,  detritus,  and  fragments  of  the 

coal  forests,  how  disposed  of,  127. 
Railway  cross-ties,  how  preserved,  HO. 
Rain,  absence  of,  during  the  coal  period, 

195. 

Ripple-marks,     sun-cracks,     etc.,    ex- 
plained, 253. 
Reindeer,   311— Rhinoceros,    317— Rats, 

323— Raccoon,  340— Ratel,  341. 
Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  on  Noah's  Ark,  377. 
River  freshets,  eflects  of,  404. 
Rome,  geological  character  of  the  "  seveu 

hills  of,7'  433. 

Space,  immensity  of,  56. 

Sun,  the  centre  of  the  planetary  system, 
31,  ISO. 

Sun,  the  source  and  parent  of  worlds,  32. 

Second  day  described  by  Moses,  40. 

Silurian  rocks,  geographical  distribution 
of,  59,  75. 

St.  Clair  Flats,  origin  of  the,  62. 

Sigillaria,  fossils  of  the,  in  coal,  88. 

Sigillaria  and  Stigmaria,  their  identity 
disproved,  91. 

Spruce,  silver  firs,  and  other  trees,  113. 

Sun,  stars,  and  moon  introduced  oil 
fourth  day,  59,  177. 

Sun  introduced  on  the  fourth  day,  effect 
on  climate,  194. 

Salt  of  the  sea,  192. 

Science  of  the  Bible  vindicated,  199,  203. 

Serpent,  the,  symbolical  of  sin  and  im- 
mortality, 366. 

Spongiaria,  animals  of  the,  211. 

Spiders,  family  of,  228. 

Salt  springs,  241. 

Solar  days,  impossibility  of  their  exist- 
ence before  the  fourth  day  of  Moses, 
18. 


494 


ALPHABETICAL   INDEX. 


Stratification  of  the  earth's  crust,  want 
of  parallel  order  proof  of  its  antiquity, 

Spontaneous  fructification  of  the  ancient 

Stm^and'mo'on  made  to  rule  over  the 

earth,  176,  195,  206. 

Seventeenth  century,  discoveries  of,  182. 
Salt  of  the  sea,  solid  quantity  held  in 

solution,  192. 
Salt  springs  of  the  new  red  sandstone, 

242 

Sauropus  primsvis,  description  of  foot- 
prints of  the,  237. 

Silk-worms  and  silk  manufactures,  231. 

Secondary  formation,  or  fifth  day,  geo- 
graphical distribution  over  the  earth, 

Sixth  day  or  Tertiary,  description  ofihe, 

290 
Sheep,  312— Squirrels,  323— Sloths,  320— 

Sable,  343. 

Satan,  rebellion  of,  in  heaven,  361. 
Seventh  day,  sanctified,  358,  459. 
Spontaneous   life,    theory    of  the,  dis- 
proved, 421. 
Spontaneous  life,  experiment  of  Weeks 

and  Crossi  explained,  420. 
Stephens,  travels  in  Central  America. 

446 
Sabbath,  objects  contemplated  in  the, 

469. 
Submergence  of  continents  conceded  by 

geologists,  408. 

Satan  in  the  garden  of  Eden,  362. 
Sensational  preachers,  359. 
Squiers,  E.  J.,  remarks  of,  on  the  Centra 

American  antiquities,  443. 

Thought  and  vision,  limited  range  of 

Third  day  of  Moses,  49. 

Trees,  resinous  gums  and  oily  secretion 

of,  114. 

Tar,  how  manufactured,  109. 
Third  day,  concluding  review  of,  167 
Telescope,  discovery  of  the,  181. 
Telescope  of  Lord  Rosse,  183. 
Tropical  vegetation  and  forests,  descrip 

tion  of,  123. 

Tentaculifera,  described,  222. 
Tumbling  runensineus,  256. 
Tertiary  formation,  description  of,  290. 
Tertiary,  animals  of,  described,  306. 
Trinity,  the,  Father,  Son,    and    Hoi 

ttuwt,  360. 


niversal  gravitation,  law  of,  185. 

niverse,   man   peering  into  the  my* 
teries  of  the,  182. 

nity  of  the  human  race,  remarks  of 
Humboldt,  464. 

niversality  of  the  Noachian  flood  con- 
sidered, 373. 

ision  and  thought,  limited  range  of,  14 
ice    flourishing    in   the    domains    of 
Christianity,  23. 
Volcanic  rocks  described,  46. 

'egetation,  diversity  of  accounted  for, 

Vegetable  origin  of  coal,  154. 
Vegetable  structure  of  coal  explained, 

Volcanic  action  on  fourth  day,  effects 
of  on  climate,  172. 

'olcanic  action  at  the  close  of  the  sixtn 
day  of  Tertiary  period,  400. 

Vegetable  growth,  and  chemical  phe- 
nomena of,  473. 

Vegetation,  animals  in  the  juices  of,  237. 

Vegetable  preceding  animal  life, 239. 

Volcanic  Islands,  emergence  of,  4b. 

Vegetable  life,  beginning  of,  71. 

Vegetation  of  the  Tertiary,  294. 

Volcanic  action  in  the  polar  regions, 
effects  of,  401. 

Vegetation  of  America,  antiquity  of,  4b< 

Worlds  within  worlds,  37. 

Wood  not  converted  into  coal,  155, 15b 

Water  of  Alleghanies,  distribution  of, 
175. 

Worlds,  origin  of,  30. 

Worlds,  original  unity  of,  36,  361. 

Worlds  compound  aggregates,  united  by 

World1,  yt'he, '  too    much    controlled   by 

scientific  flummery,  157. 
Weight  or  pressure  of  the  atmosphere, 

Wafers,  the,  commanded  to  bring  forth 
life  on  the  fifth  day,  209. 

World,  the,  how  humbugged  by  its  so- 
called  science,  266,  274. 

Weald  Rocks,  description  of,  280. 

Whales,  210-absence  of  their  fossils  m 
the  cretaceous  rocks  explained,  ill, 

OQ-> 

Whiskey  from  coal  oil,  144. 

Water,  subterraneous  rivers  and  lake*. 

410. 
Zoology,  science  and  classification  «f, 


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